Robin Hood: Giving in
by emzigale07
Summary: My fourth gosh installent of my Robin Hood serise, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVENT READ THE OTHERS three weeks have passed since Robin’s ‘experience’ in Nottingham and her world is showing no signs of slowing down or calming down in anyway....
1. Secrets and sleep

**Summery: two weeks have passed since Robin's 'experience' in Nottingham and her world is showing no signs of slowing down or calming down in anyway as she tries to come to terms with what happened in Nottingham, deals with her slave driver ex boyfriend who refuses to leave her alone and has the power to reduce her life to crap, tries to figure out just exactly what the Rebellion is, finds herself getting used to College and goes about her job of giving money to the poor. As if all that wasn't enough for her to be dealing with Robin soon finds out that although the most exciting and crazy summer of her life is coming to an end, the autumn seems set to be just as extreme. At least she has her new boyfriend and son of her enemy George Baxter to help her get through all this, that is if she can stop afore mentioned ex-boyfriend from telling George's father, the evil businessman Robert Baxter, who George really is. Will she give in the Adam's blackmail or can see find another way out of this?**

**Author note: Okay, I'm beyond sorry, this is being posted a lot later than I would have liked, I'm going the throw you the over used (but completely honest) excuse that I am current swamped with homework and coursework, I knew that my second year of A levels would be harder than the first but I had no idea how much so. So hear it is, short but sweet (I hope) to kick off my fourth Robin Hood story :)**

**Robin Hood: Giving in**

**Chapter one**

I was standing alone in a field; the earth is soft and muddy beneath my boots and brown dirt spots cover them from my trek over here in the poor weather. It is raining, just as I predicted it would, red sky at night Sheppard's delight, red sky in morning Sheppard's warning, isn't that how the old nursery rhyme went? The heavy droplets of rain hit me hard, each one hammering my skin with the force of a small stone and sped up by the howling wind that raged around me, lifting my long brown hair from where it rested about halfway down my back and whipping it around my face. I was drenched and shivering, there wasn't a patch of skin or cloth upon me that wasn't soaked through by the rain as it fell rapidly from the heavens, I didn't care though, there were other more important things on my mind.

Instinctively I turned my head to the right; the wind blew my hair back off my face, giving me my first proper look at my surroundings since I had arrived. I could see the forest ahead of me now, its enormous trees flashing a white border as a bolt of lightening streaked across the dark sky behind them, there was a crashing sound and the noise of a tree as it fell, somewhere in the back of my mind I felt myself hope that it wasn't one particular tree, that it would be safe. My gaze fell upon them then, the large group before the start of the forest and then, as though someone had popped the bubble that had mercifully surrounded me until now, the sounds of the battle that commenced there reached me, carried on the vicious wind that still billowed around me. The metallic ring of swords as they clashed; the twang of bows and the cries of war sounded alien to me, wrong as they reached my modern ears, as though I shouldn't be here to listen to them. I found that I had no time to dwell on this strange sensation though as my eyes pinpointed those I hadn't know I was searching for until this moment. They were all there; everyone I had ever cared about in any way was fighting the opposing army, united in purpose and by the looks of determination each and every one of them wore.

It hurt me though, to see them all in danger like that, especially since I was standing over here safe when it was my responsibility to be a part of this, to fight along side them. Dazed I started to walk forward, my legs feeling like led weights with each slow and disorientated step I took, I wasn't used to feeling disorientated, I was usually so in control of everything, I looked up at the fighters from underneath my sopping fringe, clearly not everything. I staggered through the grass towards them, eyes trained upon each of my dear friends, not even the heavy rain which still fell in constant streams could take my gaze away from them, the four of them consumed my thoughts. Screams of pain and cries of attack continued to drift towards me, I was still a great distance away from my friends and moving as fast as I could, whimpering each time one of them had a near fatal blow delivered to them. Just when I thought that I could take no more I spotted Joey, my nineteen year old cousin blocking an attack intended for my dad who was too busy leaping in front of my mum to pay attention to his own battles, my heart dropped as I saw them all. My family was here fighting as well, every one of them minus my little sister Alice. I started to search the crowds of fighters then, all of the people who were serving our cause, and spotted so many familiar faces that it was a wonder I didn't collapse on the floor under the weight of my own fear and guilt. Alongside my close friends and family where people that I had known for a long time now, Joe, Jess and Josh, as well as recently made friends such as Eloise and Susanna. I could not handle the thought of one of Baxter's men harming any one of these people so I picked up the pace, ignoring how my body complained and fought me all the way, as though it knew something I didn't. I was almost there and still undetected when my gaze fell upon the familiar heart wrenching sight; a blond haired, blue eyed male in red was locked in what appeared to be mortal combat with a dark haired, darkly dressed man of the same age. No. That one word was all that would form in my mind as I watched the two warring youths, fighting a battle of their own that was separate from the cause of the others. Not again, I thought as I picked up speed, running now through the tall grass towards them both, I would not let this happen again. My sigh of relief was audible as the blond knocked the dark haired boy to the floor with the swing of an elbow, the medieval weapon he had held forgotten completely in his hate for the man before him. As the source of a good deal of my misery clutched his bleeding nose with both hands the blond angel turned and spotted me running towards him.

"Robin," he called out, blood was trickling lightly from the cut on his forehead and his already bruised face was a little more beaten but other than that he was fine.

I opened my mouth to shout for him to move but all that came out was a scream as the very thing I had been dreading, happened. He appeared behind him so quickly that he might have been invisible before now, he had moved towards him with all the presence and bluntness of a ghost, unseen until now. The sneak raised his blade high and the dark haired man, who still clutched his nose, smiled a cruel smile. My eyes went wide and I sucked in a breath, he didn't have a clue, he didn't know the danger he was in, I couldn't warn him in time, I had barely opened my mouth again before the sword fell.

"No!" I screamed it was a pained heartbroken sound that echoed across the battle field and drowned out everything else.

And then I woke up.

**Hudson Farm**

My eyes flew open suddenly as the end of my scream left my lips, my breathing was heavy and I realised that I was covered from head to toe in cold sweat, I was shivering now just like I had been in my dream. Slowly I sat up, pulling my shoulder length brown hair out of my face as I did so and waited to see if anyone had heard my cry. I sat there for a moment, listening to the ticking sound of my clock as the second hand completed one turn; I waited until I was sure that no one had heard me before I relaxed and let myself start to calm down. The night before George had heard me scream and rushed in thinking that someone was breaking in through my window, as though he thought I couldn't handle that, I mean come on who am I? Its not that I didn't appreciate my boyfriends effort though, because I did, its just that if anyone in this house could look after themselves in the event of a break in it was me, and him as well I suppose, considering our less than average hobby of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor and the dangers that involved.

Images flashed before my eyes as I gasped for breath in the dark small space of my bedroom, a flash of lightning, a man in a crown on horseback, rain pouring from the sky, the sun shining bright above me, my loved ones charging into battle, blue eyes as the sparkle left them. I shook myself; refusing to fall into a misery brought on by memories of something I put all my energy into forgetting. It wasn't even as if my dream was the only thing plaguing me, the whole experience refused to leave me alone and between that an other pain in the ass things (or rather people, or even just a person) it was a wonder I didn't crack.

I sighed as my heart rate slowed and I thought about the past couple of weeks and how George's moving in with us had made my transition back into every day life so much easier. It had been nice having him around, especially since I didn't have to worry about him getting caught while snooping around his dad's house anymore, it put my mind at rest to be so close to him and I think it was the same for him too. Heaven knew I got into enough trouble. Running a hand through my dampened hair I felt my breathing start to slow to a more normal rate, I felt my gaze flick to the clock on my bedroom wall even though I needn't have bothered, I knew what time it would read. Five fifteen, give or take since I hadn't looked at the clock instantly upon waking up, though that said I knew from past experience that it would have been exactly five fifteen when I had woken up. How did I know that? Well that was simple; I knew that because I had woken up at exactly five fifteen from that very same dream every night since I had come home from the hospital. Ever since that dream I had had about Baxter and the scientists, the only thing I ever seemed dream about was Marin's death in the past. I stifled a shudder at the memory, it hadn't happened exactly like that in my dream but it was close enough for it to bother me. I can't imagine it's all that hard for you to figure out why either, I mean come on, would you enjoying seeing the man you love (the past embodiment of him anyway) die in your dreams every night? I can hardly think that you would.

I sat up an readjusted my bed covers, which had been thrown about my bed during my dream, and tried to push aside the memories, both of the recurring dream and first time I had witnessed it (I was hardly going to say when I went back in time and saw it, that was just crazy) as they threatened to force their way into my mind. This had become a routine by now, I had come to expect nothing else when I went to sleep on a night and I can tell you now that it was one major pain in the ass having to go through this every night. On top of all my other crap as well. The pipes of the silent house groaned in the walls as I moved my pillow back into place with still shaking hands. At least no one had heard me this time, I thought as I tucked a damp strand of hair behind my ear, if I kept this sort of thing up I'd end up in a mental hospital for sure. Maybe you belong there; I told myself cynically and thought about how only weeks ago I had actually believed that I had travelled back in time to King Richard's England. I pushed the negative thought aside and told myself that it was just the stress of the whole Robin Hood thing and the hit on the head getting to me. I wasn't crazy. That was also why the dreams were bothering me so much, not only did the repeatedly show George, or 'Marin' as I would have called him in my delusional state, repeatedly die before my eyes. It also reminded me of what had happened only a few short weeks ago and how confused I was about it. I didn't like being confused, it unnerved me and made me feel useless, I had to be sure of everything I did or everything that was happening or else I wasn't happy. And right now, I wasn't happy.

Suddenly I could hear the sound of tries crunching on gravel through my open window. I turned towards my heavy white curtains, barely moving in the late night breeze, and I felt myself frown, who was coming down the lane at this time? Swiftly I pulled back my covers and stepped onto the floor, the carpet cold and cool beneath my bare feet. My first thought as I crossed my bedroom was, Adam. It wasn't enough for the thoughtless prat that he pestered me near as damm it every night of the week before I went to bed and that I was practically his slave, he was going to bother me in the early hours of the morning as well. I was sure his shirt or whatever, could wait until morning to be ironed, I was so not in the mood for Adams games tonight and I'd throw the pretentious slave driver right back out the window if he so much as suggested that I pair up his socks or whatever stupid job he had for me. I was by my window, holding my empty bow tightly in my hand just in case Adam tried anything, the creep had been getting more an more forward about his 'requests' over the past few weeks and I wasn't willing to sink to that low. Cautiously so as not to be seen, I pressed my back against the wall and moved the side of the curtains slightly so that I could peer out I could see, just beyond my parents car which was painted a midnight blue by the late hour and waiting in the driveway, and up the lane. A unfamiliar black car pulled into the yard in front of our house, I was only sure of its colour as I passed under the lone streetlight my granddad had put up years ago at the bottom of the lane, the light reflecting against its tinted windows. That wasn't Adams dad's car, I was sure of it, Adam might work for both Jacobs and Baxter now but he was not well enough paid, or old enough, to buy himself a car. Not that this car was anything special, it was an understated car, simple and purposeful and probably none too expensive. Still, I knew that this wasn't Adam. Quietly the car drove out from under the streetlight and moved into the shadows, where it turned around before coming to a stop just outside the beam of light. The two back doors and the passenger side door were thrown open, and I watched as three figures, one small, two tall, exited the car which promptly sped off back up the lane.

Instantly my mind shifted into Robin Hood mode, this wasn't good, only one word would form in my mind now and the very thought of it had my frown deepening and my back teeth grinding. Baxter. This was it, Baxter's goons were here, they were finally seeking their revenge for the embarrassment both they and their employers had suffered here whist trying to KILL my family. I had thought that Baxter wouldn't let my family get away with that, it wasn't the kind of thing Baxter took lightly, but I'd be dammed if I let them just drive down here and try and hurt my family again. I was just about to see if I could quickly turn on the TV in my room and get up the special channel Mark had sorted out for me that showed me what was going on outside the house via the CCTV cameras we had set up out there, without waking up the rest of the house and putting them all in danger, when I heard a sound. My hand froze above my draw handle, where I had been reaching to pull out my mask; I could here the sound of footsteps on the front porch and the jangle of keys. I moved my hand away from the draw and drew myself back up to full height, a confused frown fixed in place on my face. Quickly and instinctively, since I no longer believed any of us were in any actual danger, I stepped towards my bedroom door just as the sound of a key being slid into the lock on the front door echoed throughout the house. I pulled my door open ever so slightly and pressed my eye against the gap, I peered across the landing, able to see the front door just as it was unlocked and slowly opened. Baxter's goons or a burglar would not have a key to the house. The three figures appeared in the doorway, the bright light of the streetlamp casting a yellow glow around the trio as they stepped into the house so I couldn't make out their faces. My grip tightened around the bow in my hand but other than that I did nothing; my keen senses were telling me that they were no threat.

Not one of the made a sound as they closed the door and headed towards the stairs, removing their shoes before taking to the rickety, creaking steps. No one spoke as they ascended; they only flinched as the old wood groaned under their combined weight. I waited, breathing quietly and gripping the door handle, until they reached the landing. They slit up then, one of the taller ones took the hand of the small one who appeared to be a woman and nodded their silent goodbye before turning and heading towards my room. I didn't move, it was too dark for them to spot me and I doubted I could have moved even if I had wanted to, as when the couple turned to my right outside my bedroom door and headed towards my parents room they stepped into the beam of light that streamed through the landing window because of the streetlight. I stifled a gasp, even though I had known who it would be, it shocked me to have my suspicions confirmed. They walked past my room and almost soundlessly slipped into my parent's room, I then turned my attention back to the third tall figure, who was standing at the other end of the landing, just a little in front of what was currently George's bedroom door. The figure reached up with a long wooden pole and pulled down the ladders that led to the attic bedroom where Alice usually slept, though Joey was using the room now while George was staying here. The figure straitened up the ladders, put the pole back in its place and began to climb up, half inside the attic room the figure flicked on the light before its jeans-clad legs disappeared into the attic as well. I waited until the light was switched off, the trapdoor was closed and the footsteps stopped above me before I closed my bedroom door. Frowning still, though now in confusion, I placed my bow back in its hiding place of the back of my wardrobe and climbed into bed, pondering the strange events I had just witnessed. What had my parents and Joey been doing out until quarter past five in the morning? I was sure that wasn't normal behaviour for them, I had been up late enough and had returned home early enough in the morning to know that they didn't usually sneak out like this, because that's what they had done, sneaked out. No one had told me that they would be going out tonight and I was willing to bet that the same could be said for George. What were they up to so early in the morning that they couldn't tell us? I wondered as I lay back in my pillows on that early Saturday morning and tried to get a few more hours sleep, all possible prophetic dreams forgotten, at least for that night.

**Author note: hum, kinda unsure about this, it's short and sweet (In theory) and is my opening chapter but I don't know. What do you think, does it have you hankering for more or wondering absentmindedly what I was even thinking when I posted this? Let me know please I'm kinda nervous. Much love :) x**


	2. Visiting villians

**Author note: WARNING! I really don't like this chapter, it was only meant to be short but grew and grew as ideas popped into my head and I'm not even sure if I like them anymore. I'm not 100% sure that I've remained true to my characters here and I'm worried I've let them down slightly. Please tell me what you think and if it's as bad as I reckon. Also, I'm sorry It's taken me so long to update, as I said it is quite long (if that's any consolation) and my workload has been ridiculous of late. So yeah, here it is, chapter two of Giving in, read it with a critical eye.**

**Chapter two**

**Visiting Villains**

**Hudson Farm**

A few hours later I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock beeping. After over a week of restless nights and nightmares I can't even begin to tell you how badly I wanted to hit the snooze button and crawl back beneath the sheets, where I would hide for at least the rest of the day. No such luck though as my mum walked into my room, sensing that I was attempting to overlay, and started to nudge me gently awake, telling me that I was going to be late for work and reminding me all the while that I couldn't afford to lose this job.

"Come on Robin, everyone else has to get up and so do you. Come on get up, Mr Jordans won't be happy if you're late." She said nudging me again.

"Ummm," I groaned as I opened my eyes to see my mum standing beside my bed, hands on her hips and her dark blond hair pulled off her face in a ponytail, revealing her serious looking expression "I'm getting up." I said pulling myself to an upright position and running my hand through my messy hair.

"Are you having trouble sleeping Robin honey?" mum asked in a concerned voice, her expression changing to a worried one as she scrutinised the bags that had undoubtedly formed under my eyes. I hastily threw back the covers and stepped out of bed, not wanting my mum to probe on this topic, as she had the uncanny ability to suss out what was wrong with me.

"No, it just took me a little while to get to sleep last night is all," I lied as I straightened my bed and turned back to face my mum, who I now noticed had purple circles of her own around her eyes. I didn't say anything though; I wasn't that rude as to accuse her of anything. Not until I got all the facts at least.

Mum's expression hardened and she folded her arms "I think that you're working too hard Robin, both at the office and at the café. Maybe you should ask for fewer hours, especially now that college has started, it might affect your studies." She said.

"I can't really afford to do that mum, like you said, I've got college and since so one dares to take out EMA there's no other way for me to buy all the books I need." I said, frowning as I thought about the injustice of it all and how no teenager of the Southside dared to take out EMA (education maintenance allowance) because it was obvious that most of us would qualify for the full £30 weekly amount and would only have to cop for it later. You see Baxter didn't want too many kids applying for EMA since it would show that Locksdale was deprived area, if lots of the teenagers needed to take out EMA because their parents wages were below the national average, and sooner or later someone would look at the numbers of kids claiming and wonder why no one in Locksdale had enough money to put their kids through college. The courses were free obviously, but the textbooks, stationary and specialist equipment weren't, then there was also travel and getting to the college itself as well as money to eat. Anyway, Baxter's deterrent was that for the past however many years anyone foolish enough to claim EMA found that their family was heavily taxed for some ridiculous reason so that the money they ended handing back to the council (Baxter) was more than they could ever claim from EMA. So basically there was no point applying.

"Hum," my mum said, her expression was one of annoyance and I could only assume that she had been thinking along the same lines I had. She unfolded her arms, told me that she was taking Alice and Wendy out for the day so she wouldn't be in when I got back from work and headed out of my room.

I sighed heavily before I headed to my wardrobe and took out my work clothes, trying to convince myself that I wasn't tired and trying to remember the reasons I had just told my mum as to why I was getting up on a Saturday morning, during the college term no less, to go to work. As though I could forget the reason, it, or rather he, was part of my everyday life and part of the reason why I was tired right now. Baxter. Deciding it wasn't best to start my day fuming about Robert Baxter's many evils I got dressed and headed for the bathroom which was mercifully empty, a rare occurrence in our house of late. I smiled as I thought of why, I could definitely and gladly put up with the inconvenience seeing as who it meant I got to spend more time with. Once my face was washed, my minimal make up was applied and my hair was acceptable I headed downstairs for breakfast. I walked into the kitchen to find it empty apart from my mum, who was the only one in our five bedroom house right now apart from me and my grandparents who were in the living room watching the Jeremy Kyle show, oooing and ahing at the scandals. I laughed as a woman's voice echoed from the TV in the living room, shouting something about her on and off boyfriend of two years sleeping with her sister while she was at home with their one year old baby, and my grandma urged Jeremy Kyle on in telling the man off for being unemployed and cheating on his wife while ignoring his child. I was starting to think watching that show was the highlight of their day.

"What's got you laughing?" my mum asked, a warm smile in place as she bit into a slice of toast.

"Nothing," I said, still smiling as I took a bowl from the cupboard, grabbed a spoon and poured myself a bowl of cereal. "Are you bringing Alice and Wendy back here for tea tonight?" I asked, I hadn't seen all that much of my sister since the start of the college term, what with my lessons and work and the fact that while George was living with us she was staying at Wendy's. I felt a little guilty about that, though I have no idea why seeing as the kid was a right little brat whenever she's around was me and she was happy enough stopping with her friend.

"Yeah, I have no idea how everyone is going to fit around the table, but I'm brining them both back here. Let Carrie have a little brake." She said as she cleaned her plate and put it back in the cupboard. I ate a spoonful of soggy cereal and nodded. Grinning as I watched my dad and Joey through the kitchen window, they were leading a smug looking (if cows can look smug) and now pretty big Dolly down the lane, the pair of them wearing exhausted expressions and covered from head to toe in mud.

"I'm guessing Dolly escaped again," I said before eating another spoonful of cereal.

My mum stopped what she was doing and peered out of the window, a small smile appearing on her lips "look's like it, though now I think about it I'm sure that I heard shouting a little while ago."

"And you didn't think to go and help?" I asked smiling all knowingly, my mum just looked innocent before grinning and saying,

"No, I didn't think that they needed my help." I felt my grin widen and my mum winked at me, yeah, I bet she thought they didn't need her help.

"Of course not, I'm sure they had everything under control." I said just as the dirt coated trio vanished from sight.

"Exactly," mum said before she flicked on the kettle and took a mug from the rack by the side of the sink "anyway, I'll bet that George will be glad that he wasn't here today when we tell him about this later, he had a lucky escape." She said before laughing a little.

I placed my spoon back in my bowl before saying "maybe not such a lucky escape, he's still got to spend a day with his dad." A frown wrinkled my brow and I felt a prickle of irritation.

My mum's expression changed and she nodded at my words "I suppose you're right, it can't be much fun for him," she said and I looked at her as though she had suggested that at night-time it might get just a little bit dark. Of course it wouldn't be much fun; this was Robert Baxter we were talking about here. My mum didn't catch my look though, which was probably a good thing, and said "though if that is the price he has to pay so that he doesn't have to live there anymore I guess that it's worth it."

"Yeah," I said agreeably though only half-heartedly. Mum was right, if that was what it took for George to stay here with us rather than live with his dad it wasn't so bad, but I still didn't like the idea that he was there, I kept getting the nagging sense that it wasn't safe there for him any more. I didn't say anything though, I wasn't one of those nagging girlfriends, George could make his own choices and I would support him. Though I'd still tell him flat out if he was being stupid, or if I didn't agree with it.

You see it turned out that Baxter wasn't happy with George staying with us, not that it had surprised me all that much, I had guessed that the superficial dictator wouldn't like the bad picture George's moving out painted of his home life. Anyway Baxter had paid George a visit at the farm, much to his own disgust and my parent's annoyance. I frowned as I remembered what an uncomfortable and infuriating experience that had been.

**Last week**

The noise of chatter floated up the lane as I walked towards the farm yard, I smiled as I recognised the voices, there were three male voices I could pick out anywhere. Picking up my pace I headed towards the voices, the memories of my painful day at work fading from my mind in my eagerness to reach the farm. The late afternoon sun shone brightly, warming the air around me, it was as though it was trying to make the most of the last of the summer before autumn arrived, bringing with it cold winds and chilly weather. I hurried past the house without so much as a glance at the familiar building; my lighthouse was drawing me to him and it was futile to resist. I stepped onto the farm and felt a wide smile spread across my face as I spotted three figures walking through the farmyard. All three of them were dressed in navy overalls and green wellies, two with dark hair and one with blond, as they walked side by side towards me their laughter carried across the short distance. Still grinning I cocked my hip and folded my arms, stifling laughter as my gaze fell upon George, who was trudging across the farmyard in mud covered overalls and laughing along with my dad and Joey.

"What happened?" I called as they neared me; all three of their heads snapped up and their grins widened even more.

"Your bloke fell over didn't he," Joey teased as he inclined his head towards George, who smiled at me and shrugged, his hands buried deep in his pockets.

I bit back a laugh "I can see that," I said gesturing towards my boyfriend.

"To be fair it was only my first day," George said cutely "and it's not like I've done anything like this before."

"I repeat; I can see that." I ribbed as the three of them came to a stop in front of me, George's face was splattered with mud as well, and he looked almost as though he had just climbed out of a trench or else been playing cowboys and Indians with a bunch of kids. It didn't seem to bother him though, he was smiling behind all that dirt and there was a mischievous twinkle in his bright blue eyes.

"You should have seen it," Joey said, meaning George's fall "it was hilarious; he got his wellie stuck in the mud and went flying."

I let out a laugh and George shot me a look before draping his arm over my shoulder and pulling me to him. "You've been framed worthy?" I asked as I leaned into George, who was sniggering for some strange reason.

"I'll say," my dad said as he raised an eyebrow at George's arm and Joey fought back another laugh. I frowned, wondering what was with them all and what on Earth was so funny "we'll make a farmer out of you yet though, wont we George?" my dad asked as he and Joey stepped around George and I and made to move towards the house.

"Yes sir," George said, earning a smile from my dad before the other two started to walk away "how was your day at the café then?" George asked.

"Ergh, don't even ask." I said pushing aside the memories, which were essentially a blur of plates, sandwiches and Jordans' disapproving gaze "I'd sooner hear about your first day working for my dad." I said grinning up at George, one of the provisos of George's staying here was that he helped out with chores and pulled his weight. He had certainly been doing that but had announced the other night that he wanted to help out on the farm with my dad and Joey, who had held him to that and set him on working today.

"What do you want to know?" he asked as we started to walk back towards the house, stepping around chickens and muddy patches on the farmyard.

"I don't know, how was it, did you manage okay?" I asked shrugging; enjoying the simplicity of my life at the moment, despite all my nightmares and other worries my life was the quietest it had been in weeks.

"What, you mean other than falling in the mud and providing your family with comedy gold?" George asked with a laugh.

"Well yeah, other than that," I asked as I knocked my shoulder into him playfully.

"Other than that, hum," George repeated mockingly, as though he was having a hard time remembering what else happened "it was alright after that, to tell you the truth I'm sort of enjoying it Robin, I could get used to this." he said as he tightened his grip on me slightly.

"Careful," I said with a slight laugh "don't let my dad hear you say that, or else he'll think his dreams of me or my family taking over the farm have been realised at last."

"I can think of worse ways to spend the rest of our lives," George said in all seriousness before he added "though I don't think Joey would be best pleased if that happened."

I smiled and pondered this for a moment, happy that George hadn't gone all commitment-phobic on me as I absentmindedly mentioned me and him in the distant future. My smile deepened, George was right, staying at the farm wouldn't be bad at all, a sweet little image of a family popped into my head before I pushed it aside. Gawd, George really did have a strange effect on me, here I was pondering starting a bloody family with George, we'd only been going out two weeks!

"I think you're right," I said as we reached the end of the farm yard.

"I know I am," George said with a grin "and by the way, you've got mud on your face."

"What?" I asked just as George raised his muddy hand to my face and whipped dirt across my cheek. I turned to face him, my mouth hanging open. "George,"

George stepped away from me grinning mischievously but holding his hands up to feign innocence. "Don't look at me like that Robin, I've not done anything wrong, oh and you might want to get changed when we get back home."

Confused I looked down at myself before I let out a gasp, my work clothes were stained with dry mud all down my left hand side, exactly where George had pulled me to him.

"Yeah, sure you've done nothing wrong." I said gesturing down at my clothes and realising why everyone had been sniggering earlier, but still smiling myself.

"I'm sure that it will wash," George said as we passed the outside tap on the side of the house, to which a hose was attached, I felt a sly smile spread across my face.

"Come here," I said as I stepped towards the outside tap "we'll see how well this cleans off then shall we."

"No," George smiled taking a step away from me as I turned on the tap and picked up the hose "I'm quite alright over here."

"I'm sure you are," I said as I pointed the hose at George and the gorgeous lad took off just as I shot a jet of ice cold water at him. It missed. "Come here SWEETIE, lets get you all cleaned up."

"I think you'll have to catch me first love," George said as he started to back away from me, a wide grin on his face. I smiled and started to follow him, before twisting the nozzle and shooting more water in his direction, it missed again. "Though to be honest I don't think I've got anything to worry about, aren't you supposed to be good at aiming?" George teased and I raised an eyebrow, George spotted this and made a 'bring it' motion by curling his finger at me. Whoosh, a jet of water shot through the air, hitting George square in the chest and drenching him from head to toe. I grinned and span the hose around a few times before dropping it to the floor and crossing my arms.

"You were saying?" I asked feeling kind of smug. George just blinked as he got over the shock, this didn't last for long though and a playful smile spread across his lips as he opened his arms and started towards me, gesturing for a hug. I laughed and took off at a jog, dodging his advances as he tried to catch me. He caught me in front of kitchen window, his arms circled me and he pulled me against his soaking chest and I was about to carry on with out game and pull away when he leaned in close to me and whispered,

"Got you," before brushing his lips against mine in a tender kiss, I reacted to his touch instantly and kissed him back quickly, wanting to wind my fingers into his damp hair but knowing the others would be waiting for us inside and cutting this kiss short.

"I think you'll find, that it's the other way around," I said as we pulled apart.

"I think you might be right," George said with a smile before taking my hand and leading me towards the front door.

We stopped suddenly; our gaze falling upon a black Aston Martin Vantage parked outside the farm house, a disgruntled looking driver standing by its side. I felt myself frown, I knew that car, heck, I had been in that car just a few short weeks ago when George had taken me to Marian's Bay for the day. I quickly looked towards the house, if that car was here then that could mean only one thing, so was its owner. Baxter. Fear took hold of me then, not fear for myself but fear for George and for my family who were inside with the cruel murderer right now, at his mercy. My grip on George's hand tightened as I looked at the car, it meant something, the fact that Baxter had chosen to take this car to come here, it was a reminder of the night that Baxter had laid into George and I for taking it and a sign to me that Baxter was not happy. He was putting me in my place. Because this car wasn't one that Baxter would choose just for the sake of it, and to come to a farm as well. I looked at George, whose expression had become harsh and hard, I squeezed his hand again.

"We need to go in, it could be something important." I said, guessing what that George was thinking, that he wanted to turn away now and pretend his father didn't exist.

"What if he knows Robin?" George asked suddenly and quietly "what if he has found out who we are? We should go, we shouldn't risk it."

"He hasn't, if he had he wouldn't come in here in person to tell us that he knew, he'd have sent the B.A. for us long ago." I said, only half convinced myself but fully aware that even if that was the case and Baxter did know who we were I could not just leave my family in there to deal with my mistakes.

George nodded and I took that to mean that he agreed with me and headed towards the house. I opened the door and together George and I stepped into the entrance hall, aware all the while of how eerily silent to usually bustling house was. I walked to the living room door and noticed that no one was in there, great, I thought sarcastically, everyone was in the kitchen and Baxter had probably just seen George and I messing about with the hose and then kissing in the yard. I shuddered at the thought of this cold blue eyes watching us in disgust and then caught myself, the very last person I was going to let make me feel uncomfortable was Robert Baxter, I was Robin Hood (though he didn't know it) and I was going out with his son, he had just better get used to that. George however seemed to have no concerns about his father knowing we were together as he never let go of my hand, not even as we reached the kitchen door and stepped into the quiet room.

"Mum? Dad?" I asked cautiously as I turned the door handle and walked into the room.

Everyone looked up as we entered, and when I say everyone I MEAN everyone, my whole family, minus Alice of course, were all standing uncomfortably in the kitchen with a snooty looking Robert Baxter when George and I walked in. The all stood together, my family I mean, presenting a united and openly hostile front to the unwelcome tyrant visiting our home.

"Mr Baxter is here to speak with George," my dad said eyeing Baxter, who was seated at the kitchen table, distastefully but being polite nonetheless.

George didn't say anything; he merely regarded his father with a look of dislike and shifted his grip on my hand. I realised then that I wasn't breathing, that I was holding my breath worried about what it was Baxter was going to say. There were so many potentially difficult things that could happen right now and that left me on edge, I didn't have a clue what was going to happened next and I didn't like that. Baxter, who had got to his feet upon being mentioned, eyed his son with an expression that was almost revulsion as he took in George's soggy, dirty appearance and mine and his interlocked fingers.

"Maybe you should get out of those dirty overalls George love," grandma said gently from where she stood across the kitchen with my granddad, probably uncomfortable with the all tension in the room and trying to restore some normality "you'll catch your death if you stay in those, they're soaking."

"I will, once he's gone," George said, his voice emotionless and his expression matching "but thank you for being concerned."

My grandma didn't look happy, not because of how rude George was being to his dad but because he was going to make himself ill. I tightened my grip on George's hand, setting my jaw when I felt Baxter's gaze upon me and trying to keep my wits about me as the murderous tyrant started to wind me up. I was determined that I gave him no reason to be suspicious of me, this was the closest I had been to him as just Robin Hudson since the day when George and I had gotten busted for joy riding, I had the funny feeling that he knew that there was something about me, that I wasn't just your average girl. Maybe I was being too paranoid, maybe Baxter wasn't as perceptive as I thought he was; all my walls were up anyway, I was taking no chances where Baxter was concerned. That wasn't to say that I acted the meek, submissive girlfriend, you know me better than that by now so you know that that's just not me, I might be trying to keep Baxter from figuring out mine and George's secret but I sure was going to give Baxter a piece of my mind if he said or did something I didn't agree with.

Baxter frowned and straightened his dark blue business suit, "I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter, I need to speak with you George it is of the upmost importance."

George pulled a face, no longer doing what his father asked with meek acceptance (not that he ever did much of that before) and more than willing to speak his mind, my mum bet him to it though.

"Of course he has a choice; if he doesn't want to speak to you he doesn't have to." She said sternly and Baxter turned to regard her, a most peculiar expression on his face, strangely enough this caused my mum to blush though she did not back down in any way. My dad then cleared his throat and locked his gaze with Baxter's; there was an undistinguishable look in dad's eyes as he folded his arms and moved closer to mum. I watched all of this, confused, my eyes darting between Baxter and my hostile looking parents.

There was a murmur of agreement around the room as my family echoed my mums words, all of them had grown close to George over the past few months that he had been visiting me here and even more so now that he is living with us. So naturally none of them liked the way his dad was treating him.

Baxter ignored my family's minor outburst; he showed no reaction to them and was looking at George instead "I want to speak with you George, and since you no longer wish to live with me," Baxter said with a professional expression on his face, which annoyed me a hell of a lot seeing as he was talking to his son and showing as much emotion that George might as well have been a stranger or a difficult prospect business partner that Baxter needed to persuade to his way of thinking "and prefer to stay here I have had no choice but to seek you out, as I said this is of the upmost importance."

"I have already said that I don't want to speak to you, and it is not my fault that you have decided to come here, if I had my way you wouldn't be here at all. You were the one who gave me the ultimatum; you should not be annoyed that my choice inconveniences you." George said firmly and I felt myself swell with pride as I squeezed George's hand reassuringly, happy that he was mine and glad he was speaking his mind.

Slowly Baxter turned a bright and angry red colour and I watched as his professional expression wavered, his mask was slipping and everyone else in the room was noticing it "You dare to speak to your father…"

"Father, what kind of parent treats his son this way? Any idiot can conceive a child and be its biological father; it takes something more to be a dad, to love and care for a child properly. That's something you are clearly incapable of doing." My dad snapped, clearly unable to lose the opportunity to tell Baxter what he really thought of him. I watched as Baxter's eyes narrowed as he regarded my dad and he asked,

"And you have that something more I assume?" Baxter asked coldly as he glared at my dad with open dislike now, his posh businessman façade slowly disappearing.

"Yes," I said loudly, unable to keep my peace while the infamous and sadistic Baxter turned on my dad "he's a proper dad."

"More so than you are," my mum said sharply and I watched as another peculiar expression crossed Baxter's face and he watched my mum intently.

"Enough of this," Baxter said swiftly turning back to face George "stop being foolish George; I need to speak with you right now."

George stuck out his chin defiantly and stood tall, I mirrored the action and was suddenly aware that I was still wearing my muddy and damp (thanks to George) work clothes, I was willing to bet Baxter thought that I was the devil incarnate come to corrupt his son with my working-class morals and values. No wonder he was looking at me like I was suffering from the bubonic plague.

"I will agree to speak with you, but only because it seems that is the only way that you will leave us in peace." George said, turning his posh upper-class upbringing on his father, whose jaw tightened at his son's words.

"Then perhaps we could go somewhere more private," Baxter said making a move to leave the room, George however did not move a muscle.

"What, and let you beat him again when he doesn't do what you want him to?" my Grandma, who had been informed of Baxter's visit to the hospital by my mum, asked. I felt myself shift into defensive mode as I regarded Baxter, my mum had also told me what Baxter had done to George when he took him aside at the hospital and I'd be damned if I let him do something like that again. Though to be honest I was slightly unnerved by the fact that I had known about this long before my mum had told me thanks to the dream I had had of the incident, while I had been unconscious. Quickly I pushed the thought aside and moved closer to George so that we were standing shoulder to shoulder.

"Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of my family." George said impressively, radiating that Baxter power and charisma that made his father so formidable but made George so amazing. I watched as each member of my family beamed at George for his words, he had called them family and that meant a lot to them I could tell, heck, it meant a lot to me. I squeezed George's hand again, to convey my love and support to him.

Baxter's expression flickered to insidious but no one backed down, seeing as he was outnumbered and out of his element Baxter gave in, loathing every second of his failure. I felt a bold smile cross my lips at his discomfort; it felt good to be knocking Baxter down a peg or two. "Very well," Baxter said with obvious reluctance "take a seat." Baxter said lowering himself into a kitchen chair and gesturing to the one across from him.

"I don't think you're in a position to be offering," my mum muttered loud enough for everyone else to hear, she was right, who was Baxter to be offering seats to anyone when he was a guest in OUR house.

Baxter ignored my mum and continued to watch George, who still hadn't moved. I stroked George's hand tenderly with my thumb to remind him that I was still here. George turned to face me then, smiled down at me sadly and started to move forward, he did not release his hold on my hand and I moved with him without question, wanting to support him. George and I took the two seats opposite Baxter, the rest of my family remained standing though they were now watching us intently. A resentful look crossed Baxter's face briefly before he pulled his mask back up and faced us with his businessman front.

"Well, now that I am here I can see why you chose to stay here, though I certainly would have appreciated it if you had informed me of your relationship." Baxter said formally with only the slightest hint of accusation in his voice, most people might not have noticed it but I sure did.

"We would have, were it any of your business." I said as I regarded Baxter, conveying only a minor portion of the loathing I felt for the cruel man sitting before me, holding back if only for the sake of George and my family. The cheek of him, he had no right to say that, if he wasn't such an uninterested and generally rubbish father George might have actually wanted to tell him about us. Besides, I reckoned he forfeited that right when he threw George out of his house and ignored him these past few weeks.

Baxter turned his cold calculating eyes on me as he spoke with purpose and intent "It is my business if the two of you do something to damage my reputation around the town, the scandal I would be forced to endure if any accidents were to be conceived would be inconvenient to say the least. Especially considering your social standing." Baxter said harshly and I felt my cheeks flame with indignation; he had just called me a slapper, a working-class slapper just waiting for his son to knock her up so that she could benefit from child maintenance!

"How dare you?" My granddad asked, appalled by the way Baxter had spoken to me, my dad on the other hand was frozen in place, staring wide eyed and furious at the businessman who had called me a gold-digger.

Anger bubbled up inside me, as my family let out sounds of righteous anger I felt myself boil over, I was snapping. How dare he speak to me like that? I might be a Southside girl and he might not like me right much, but he didn't know me and I was his son's girlfriend, though obviously none of that mattered to Baxter.

"Listen here you cold hearted, pretentious, cruel…" I started but Baxter cut across me, his voice cool and collected, very unlike my own.

"Insults will get you nowhere Miss Hudson; I only have my son's best interests at heart…"

"No you don't," George snapped, tightening his grip on my hand to tell me he would sort it, I turned and shot him an irritated look but George was speaking again before I could say anything "the only thing you care about is yourself, you don't give a damn about me or anything I do, you just don't want me to make you look bad, you said so yourself just then. And don't you EVER speak to Robin like that, I love her and that is just something you'll have to deal with. We are NOT sleeping together, though even if we were it wouldn't be any of your business." behind me my dad made a small noise like a wounded animal as George suggested the fact that we could sleep together quite easily, even though he knew that we weren't, my dad had made that rule perfectly clear when George and I had announced that we were together. I felt my heart flutter at George's use of the word love, it still made me feel dizzy and besotted, just as it had the first time he had said it to me when we kissed in the living room of this house. I would never get tired of hearing him say that and I would probably never stop having this reaction to those three small words, not that I was complaining.

"You do not know what love is, you're only young, and you haven't met enough people in this world to decide that you love someone. You don't know the meaning of the word." Baxter said, a distasteful look crossing his face as he regarded us, clearly he did not approve. Ha, like he could do anything.

"I know the meaning of love a hell of a lot better than you do, I can love other things as well as Robin," George said powerfully before turning to face me and adding "though nothing as much as her." A small smile played on his lips and I felt myself return it.

"I should think so too, I wasn't about to come in second to your love of fast-food." I said jokingly and George's smile widened.

"I'm assuming that this isn't why you came here to talk to me," George said after a few short moments of Baxter watching us unpleasantly.

"You assume correctly," Baxter said, his gaze flicking between me and my mum even though he was speaking to George "I have a proposition for you."

I watched as George's expression hardened, I could hardly blame him, his dad was speaking to him like a difficult business partner again and not like he was his son. I had never fully appreciated how difficult George's life must have been, especially after his mum died, his dad definitely wasn't one the most loving people and it was obvious George had been living in a loveless environment these past few years. I took my close knit family life for granted, it was all I had ever know and everything George had been without all this time, no wonder he liked it here.

"I'm not moving back in, I refuse to live under the same roof as you ever again." George said and I wasn't all that surprised to see that his words had almost no effect on Baxter; I got the distinct impression that Baxter couldn't have cared less about actually having George living with him. He only cared about appearances. This only wound me up even more, I was like a tightly coiled spring, ready to jump as soon as someone (Baxter) pushed me too far, and how could he care for George so little?

"George, I have been more than fair these past few weeks, I have let you stay with your little girlfriend and now I feel it is time for it to come to an end. People have begun to talk George, you know how you moving out will look to my opposition, they will call me an unfit father." Baxter said, George's frowned deepened and he opened his mouth the say something though my dad bet him to it.

"And that'd be the truth wouldn't it, you are an unfit father and now the world can see it. You really don't care about anyone other than yourself and your damn reputation. George didn't deserve any of the harsh treatment you've given the poor boy, I'm only glad that he's here with us now, safe and away from you." My dad said, visibly shaking with anger now, something had come over him today and he seemed unable to keep his opinions to himself. I looked at him, willing him to stop this, I knew that my dad was opinioned (just like me) and he had the right to speak his mind but he was smarter than this, he was only antagonizing Baxter and I was worried that he was going to put himself and the rest of our family in danger. I was going to step in, draw Baxters attention away from my dad and back to me, I was already on the guys shit list (second only to my alter ego after my 'taking' George away from him I reckoned), I didn't want to see my dad hurt.

Baxter turned slowly to look at my dad, a harsh expression on his face and a cold and threatening air to his voice as he said "just remember who it is you are speaking to Hudson."

"I can't forget, you're the man who tried to burn my house down, ruined my best friend's life and mistreated my daughter's boyfriend." My dad said, standing tall and looking impressive. And tried to kill said daughter on numerous occasions, I added mentally, though he didn't know about all that of course, I think he'd have a heart attack if he did.

"Uncle Alex," Joey said, speaking now for the first time since we had walked into the room I noticed. Joey widened his eyes meaningfully at my dad, who seemed to brush of the look though gave Joey a slight reassuring nod.

"Shall we discus what it is that you took from me?" Baxter asked, his voice threatening again and his eyes never leaving my dads face.

"No, I don't need reminding." My dad said with a look that was almost triumphant. I turned to look at George, going from worried to extremely confused in a matter of seconds. What was Baxter talking about, what had my dad taken from him? George looked no more sure than I was and only looked at me with confusion in his eyes before we both turned back to face our fathers.

"Of that I'm sure," Baxter said shooting my parents a glance before turning back to me and saying "your parents seem to forget the amount of power I have in this town; they forget what I can turn their lives into if I don't get what I want."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw my dad move to say something, a look of outrage crossing his face, I got there before him though, unwilling to let him dig himself in an even deeper hole "I don't think they have to be honest, forgotten I mean, the cost of living here is a never ending reminder. Thanks for that by the way, we all really appreciate it, how much our taxes have gone up since you tried to burn us all alive." I said with the confidence and charisma I usually reserved for when I was Robin Hood, though you all know me, I'm a naturally confident person, I wasn't going to let him talk to me like that.

Baxter seemed taken aback a little by me, not a lot just a little, he regarded me while my parents let out noises of shock, they didn't know that I knew about their tax increase, I had found out about it from George who had heard his father concocting the plan a month or so back. I ignored them all as they watched me, keeping my gaze locked with Baxter and my chin stuck out. A cruel smile flashed across his face as he regarded me.

"She has spirit does this one George," He said as his gaze flicked to his son "however spirit can get tiresome when the woman who has it never learns to do as asked."

"Robin has a mind of her own; it is one of the many things I love about her. I think you should leave, you're not welcome here and I've answered your question, I'm not moving back in with you, not now and not ever." George said, his eyes narrowing at his father who was still watching me with distaste. Well, the feeling was neutral buddy; I thought sourly as I resisted the urge to glare at Baxter, only just.

Baxter turned his attention back to George and his expression hardened yet again "That is not an option, I have custody of you, and if I say that you are to live with me it is as simple as that. Go and pack your belongings George, you are returning to the mansion tonight, there will be no more of this foolishness."

"No," I said, the word exploding from my lips as a result of my anger, there was no way I was letting George return to the Baxter Mansion, it wasn't safe for him there anymore, he'd really humiliated his father by moving in with us, Baxter would be sure to make him pay for that. I wasn't letting George go with Baxter, no way, no how. "He's sixteen; he can make his own choices."

"That may be so but George is still the responsibility of a parent or guardian until the age of eighteen, all of his choices have to be run by me first." Baxter said his voice cold and cruel as he flaunted his victory in front of my face.

"Any judge worth the title would be able to see that George ought not to be in your custody," my dad said, speaking up again.

Baxter didn't turn to look at dad this time, he remained facing George as he spoke "Once again you forget who I am, I have yet to meet a lawyer willing to go against mine or a judge that would even consider the possibility that I am capable of wrong doing. Besides George is not without anything, he is given anything his heart desires when he lives with me and he is not abused, there would be no case and you know it."

"You hit him," I said, unable to hold my tong while Baxter pretended to be the father of the year "how can could say you don't abuse him when you hit him all the time, its wrong and sick to hit your child and like I've said, George is sixteen, he's not a toddler that can be easily shut up by a new toy of a packet of sweets." I looked up at Baxter, sure as anything that my eyes were now showing the full extent of my hate for the man in front of me. He watched me again, his expression darkening.

"A child needs more than just material possessions, they need to feel loved." Grandma said as she looked at George, she had been giving him hugs and mothering him ever since he started living with us, I used to find it funny though not so much now that I knew why she was doing it.

"He is not your child, who are you all the lecture me? George is returning home with me today and that is that, the discussion is over, pack your things George." Baxter said, his voice sounding a little frustrated and bored, he had had enough of this.

"No, I'm not leaving, you don't honestly want me there with you and I certainly don't want to go back to the mansion. Why cant you just leave me be?" George asked, not even a hint of a whinging child in his voice, he sounded demanding and hard done by.

Baxter, who was by this point scrutinizing my mum's spotless kitchen table and looking for imperfections (much to her annoyance), raised his gaze to his son's face and looked fierce as he spoke, Baxter was fast reaching the end of his tether. "This foolishness ends now, go upstairs and pack your bags or else you and everyone in this room will suffer the consequences of your actions."

"Don't do it George," My granddad said as he glared openly at Baxter "you don't have to do what he says."

I turned to look at George, knowing him well enough to know that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he caused problems for my family, if it was his fault that life (Baxter) was unfair to them. I felt myself frown as I took in George's helpless expression, don't get me wrong, I thought George's chivalry was cute and a big part of why I loved him so much, it was part of who he was an I accepted that, I just didn't like it when it got him into trouble. Baxter clearly knew George's weakness as out of the corner of my eye I could see him sitting back in his chair, thinking the battle won. George looked at me vulnerably, his expression told me that he was going to give in to Baxter, that he didn't have a choice and he was sorry. Well, I wasn't having that; I wasn't going to let him put himself through that.

"George, don't go with him, we'll deal with whatever happens, just don't go." I said, tightening my grip on his hand, I had a really bad feeling about what would happen if George went back with his dad, it wouldn't be good and there was no way I was letting it happen. My family made noises of agreement, clearly thinking the same as I was and unwilling to let George take a hit for them.

"Are you sure about that?" Baxter asked sinisterly, staring at me from across the table.

"We'll get by, I'm sure." I said confidently, my frown deepened as Baxter's menacing expression did not change.

"What about a compromise?" George asked suddenly, I turned to look at him. What was he doing? He was dealing with the devil here, this wouldn't end well. I was going to protest but Baxter was already speaking.

"What kind of compromise?" He asked, raising his eyebrow and clearly wondering if his son had the makings of a businessman after all.

"Hey, no compromise, this isn't a good idea George." I said watching my boyfriend, who shot me a pleading look, begging me to go along with this; clearly it was the only way he could think to get out of going to live with his dad. I narrowed my eyes as Baxter chuckled coldly, fine, I thought, fine I'll let you do this but don't come complaining to me when it backfires. George seemed to see the reluctant agreement in my expression as he shot me a small smile and squeezed my hand, happy that he could sort this out without having to live with his dad and without me and my family suffering because of it.

"I'll agree to a compromise, as long as I don't have to live with you and you leave the Hudson's alone when I do." George said, that alluringly stern and powerful voice back, though I hardly noticed it as I was sitting with my arms crossed and trying not to look too much like a sulking child. I wasn't happy with this, but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to sit here and make sure I knew all the details.

"Of course," Baxter said, a triumphant expression on his face that I really did not like "now, what are the terms of our negotiation?"

**Two weeks later**

I frowned and pushed the memory from my mind, I still wasn't happy about it, but there was nothing I could do, this was George's life and I wasn't in charge of it, as I said to Baxter, he makes his own choices. I just don't necessarily have to agree with them. The compromise had been that George spent a number of hours at the mansion after college every so many days, and also that he went to any functions, meetings or visits Baxter wanted him present at. That was were George was now, at some sort of business meeting with his father, keeping up appearances just like he was when he was running in and out of the mansion every other day, he was keeping the press off Baxters back. Of course though all of this solved the immediate problem, it didn't help our long term goal in any way, keeping Baxter in the media's good books was not what we wanted, if we were going to get rid of him someday surely it would be better that we had the press thinking he was a bad dad and an user and whatever else. But no, here George was making his dad look good. Still, I supposed I couldn't complain too much, George was still living with us.

"Right mum, I'm off, see you later." I said, trying to shake off my bad mood (which is hard when you're operating on several seriously bad nights sleep) as I stood and quickly rinsed my bowl before drying it and putting it away.

My mum yawned, raising her hand to her mouth to cover it up. I watched her, questions springing to my mind again, though I decided it was best that I didn't quiz her about it now, I'd find out where she and the others were last night soon though. "Oh okay love, see you later, have a nice day at work."

"I'll try," I said with a smile before picking up my handbag and heading towards the front door. I pulled my naff second hand iPod from my bag and put in my ear phones as I walked up the lane towards the bus stop. I had just reached the top of the lane when I spotted him, grinning slyly as he lent against the bus stop sign. I froze and felt my eyes narrow as the smug looking dark haired teen raised his gaze to my face and looked at me over the rim of his expensive looking (Baxter bought) dark sunglasses.

"Hi Robin," Greeted a haughty looking Adam. Perfect.

**Author note: so yeah, there it was, my chapter two. Please let me know what you think, in addition to my other worries I think it might drag a little in places, I was going to make it shorter but when I read back over it I see all the little hints and warning for stuff that happens later in the story and realise I cant take them out. Please tell me what you think. :) x**


	3. What I deserve

**Author note: I'm sorry! I truly, truly am, this is pretty late I know but I do have good excuses, I've just been so busy and I just haven't had the inspiration to write. I got down to it today and here is chapter three, hopefully the length will make up for the delay, its 8,050 words and 14 word pages long. Also, just so you know, I was going to call this chapter 'Dick Dastardly' because of who it centres around, however I opted to choose another title, and the one I had now works because of how many times I mention it throughout this chapter. Dares to dream will understand my apprehension to using Dick Dastardly, however if anyone wants be to change the chapter title back I most certainly will if I get enough requests. Here it is, please enjoy. :)**

**Chapter three**

**The bus stop**

I felt an unpleasant look cross my face and my upper lip curl a little in disgust at the man before me. Great, just great, exactly what I needed on a Saturday morning before going to work, a visit from my slave driving, wannabe toft of an ex-boyfriend. Ignoring Adam as best I could I put my iPod on shuffle and walked so that I was standing on the other side of the bus stop to Adam, I stared down the street in the direction the bus would come from and willed the giant hunk of metal to get here faster. I started to tap my foot irritably, well aware that Adam was watching me intently, that smug grin never leaving his face. Why couldn't he just leave me alone, wasn't it bad enough that I couldn't escape him on a night when he came to give me my jobs for the day, did he really have to pester me every hour of every day? I sighed and turned my head to look down the street again, come on, come on, I coxed the stupid invisible bus driver to no avail. I felt my frown deepen when I felt Adam take a step towards me, still I refused to look at him or even ask what he was doing here, because it would surely only lead to an argument and I was afraid that if I couldn't restrain myself then George would be the one to suffer for it. I could see Adam's new and improved Baxter taught grin getting closer to me from the corner of my eye, but I would not let myself turn to face my enemies Southside spy and my ex boyfriend. I swiftly pulled my iPod from my pocket and started to flick through the songs on shuffle in search of a song loud enough to block out anything Adam was going to say be me. I had just found Paramore's 'for a pessimist I'm pretty optimistic' and was about to turn the volume way, way up when Adam carefully curled a finger around the wire and pulled my headphones from my ears.

"I want to talk to you," Adam said, lowering his voice in an attempt to sound sexy, which of course he didn't.

I pulled my headphone wire from his grip and shot him a look "well I don't wanna talk to you," I said as I lifted my headphones towards my ears, desperate to block him out before he pushed me to the very edge of my patience, I cant tell you how many times he'd done that on his little late night visits. My headphones never reached their destination however as Adam swiftly grabbed the wire and roughly pulled them. I scowled at him, his superior grin never leaving his face but his dark eyes seeming to harden with purpose and intent. "Look," I said tightly, getting bored of Adam real fast "I'll get those shirts to you by tomorrow. God knows how since I doubt the house will be empty long enough for me to pull out the ironing board, but I will okay." I then pulled the wire from his hand a second time and folded my arms across my chest, urging the bus to move faster with my mind again.

"That is good to hear," Adam said, his recently acquired posh accent still sounding wrong to me, it sort of creeped me out to be honest, not that I'd ever tell him or anyone that "but I have decided I will give you an extension on the shirts."

"You have?" I asked in a completely shocked voice, ever since Adam had roped me into being his slave I'd never been given an extension, the deal traditionally was that I have whatever he wanted me to do done before twenty-four hours had passed. I felt my eyebrows, which had shot up at Adams words, knit together again as suspicion set in "why, what do you want?" I asked guardedly. I didn't trust Adam, not in the slightest, in the time space of a year he had gone from being my boyfriend, to being my cheating ex-boyfriend, to being my cheating ex-boyfriend/blackmailer, who was hell bent on seeing my current boyfriend in the clutches of the evil Baxter, unless I did whatever he asked of course. So forgive me if I wasn't naive enough to actually think that Adam would ever do something nice for me without expecting something back in return.

"Cant I simply want to help you? Why do you always have to assume I have some sort of ulterior motive?" Adam asked; a fake innocent look on his face.

"Do you have some sort of ulterior motive?" I asked dryly and bluntly, knowing this creep well enough to not be fooled by anything that came out of his mouth. Adam's smile widened and he folded his arms before resting against the bus stop sign and regarding me with one of those annoying looks of his.

"Yes," he said and I nodded a hard expression on my face.

"Thanks but no thanks," I said, admitting defeat grudgingly with the iPod and pulling it out of my pocket and wrapping the headphones around it before putting it back in my bag. "I don't need an extension."

"It's not optional," Adam said, pushing off from the bus stop sign and taking another step towards me.

"I'd step back if I were you," I said as Adam invaded my personal space and came to stand right in front of me "or else the next time you come to visit I'll take my iron to more than just your shirts." I said threateningly as I tilted my head back to look him in the eyes, Adam only laughed though, which only served to piss me off even more "and I think you'll find I do have a choice, and I say I don't need an extension."

"Robin, Robin, Robin," I said Adam raised his hand so that his index finger rested along my jaw line and his thumb pressed against my chin "I would have thought that you would understand this blackmail thing by now, its quite simple," he said lowering his voice so that only I could hear it "you do whatever I ask, whenever I ask and your beloved Crusader isn't unmasked in front of his father. Figuratively speaking of course."

Fuming I pushed his hand away and took a step back, checking to see if the street was still deserted (I didn't need any nosy neighbours seeing this and telling George) before turning back to face Adam with my most disgusted look. My anger was mounting now, and fast, he had me exactly where he wanted me yet again and there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't even argue with the guy properly, for fear that he would turn around and say that he was going to tell Baxter about George. Making my expression as hostile as it could possibly be I balled my fists and channelled all my loathing into my eyes and glared at him, but of course he only smiled cruelly and said,

"Now that we've reached an understanding, do you want to know what I want from you?"

"Not particularly," I said coldly before folding my arms and trying to calm down a little, hate was still coursing through me strongly though and I could not unfist my hands.

Pretending not to hear me Adam carried on as though I hadn't spoken, "I want you to come to my house tonight, rather than me going to yours. I think my request might upset the rest of your household if they were to find out somehow and frankly, I don't need the hassle."

I felt my eyes go wide and my stomach drop, fear picking up around the edges of my anger, breaking through its defences. I regarded Adam, his cruel smile was still there but his eyes were once again as hard as stone, there was no missing the intent behind his words and his order (because it sure wasn't a request), it chilled me to my core. I had always feared that it would come to this, ever since we had struck this deal weeks ago, I had been worried that once he ran out of trivial crap for me to do he'd start to make things more serious. Every single visit over these past weeks he had slowly been getting more and more intimate, he had been trying it on more often but never making it an order, I knew Adam though; I had known it was only a matter of time. I was backed into a corner here and the rat was taking advantage of that fact, he knew I had no choice and he was going to make the most of the situation.

"No," I spat harshly, my anger promptly returning and pushing aside my fear and repulsion. There was no way I was doing as he asked, no way would I sink to that level, no way would I let Adam win this argument. "I'd rather you ask me to stick pins in my eyes."

I gathered up all of my anger, fury and disgust and pulled myself up so that I was standing tall. I wasn't going to give in this time, I had a choice and I chose my way, there was no way I was going to Adam's house where I'd be trapped by both the building its self and my stupid but necessary deal with him, not now and not ever. Where the hell was that stupid bus anyway? I thought, though I refused to take my determined gaze away from Adam.

Adam looked livid, his cool and calm demeanour (another lesson in evil-businessmen 101 I was guessing) cracked, clearly he had yet to master Baxter's indifference to emotion; though the other week when he had visited George Baxter hadn't had a very good hold on it now that I thought about it. Adam's hands were now in fists as well and I was conscious of the fact that we were all alone on the street, only the cars that passed on the main road could see us and even then I doubted anyone would stop to help, you kept to your own business in Locksdale, it was safer that way. I felt my gaze flick to Adam's fists, sure that I could take him if he tried anything, Adam hadn't been violent to me before but I knew as well as anyone that people changed, and aside from that Guy had had no qualms about attacking me in Nottingham. I caught myself then, no Robin, I scolded, you're not supposed to think about Nottingham, it was all a dream, it wasn't real.

"Yeah, am sure your BOYFRIEND wouldn't be too pleased about that would he?" Adam asked, his voice reverting back to its old accent now that he was angry, it only ever did that when he was seriously pissed off nowadays.

I felt my gaze narrow as I regarded Adam, he was reacting almost exactly as he had when he had found out George and I were together, furious for no good reason. He had had no right to act like that then and he didn't now either, he was my ex my cheating ex, he had no hold on me (other than the blackmail) and I didn't belong to him. Not that he had seen it that way of course.

**Three weeks ago**

I crawled into bed with a grin on my face, and a heart that seemed to be hovering slightly in my chest as though it was filled with helium, both were a result of my near perfect day. For the first time since waking up yesterday I was able to push the whole am-I-crazy-or-did-I-really-go-back-in-time internal debate from my mind and think about other things, my smile widened, though it wasn't like my mind was exactly going on more than one track right now anyway, I thought blissfully. If you had told me a year ago that George Baxter would be the one to make me feel this unbelievably happy I would have laughed in your face, or even more likely, chased you from the room for trying to take the mick. It was true though, finding out George felt the same way about me as I did about him had been the best thing to happen to me in a while, since we were frustratingly getting no further in our crusades against Baxter, and it was definitely the most unexpected. I had told myself long ago that I would never get this way about a guy, I never had with Adam (though is that really a surprise?) and I was sure that this kind of happiness was only real in books and movies, I had been wrong though. Now that I had truly tasted love there was no getting out of my blissful state and you know what? I wasn't ashamed of that, not in the slightest. My parents hadn't seemed all that surprised when we had told them either, they'd been hinting at this for weeks and taking bets on how long it would be until we actually did get together (my mum had won by the way in case you're interested), so like I said they hadn't been all that shocked. They had been pretty happy for us though, but also stern, my dad especially who had banned George and I from going into each others rooms out of pure fatherly worry more than anything else. I chuckled a little and pulled my covers up around myself, settling down for what was sure to be a peaceful night's sleep if my frame of mind was anything to go by.

I was half asleep when the sound of movement caused me to shoot upright, shaking off my groggy state I blinked and looked towards my bedroom door, half expecting to see George sneaking in with some news or maybe just to see me. The door handle never moved though and I felt my ears prick as I heard the noise again, it came from outside my open window, and it sounded like someone dropping onto the porch roof. Narrowing my eyes I pulled back my covers and stepped onto the floor, picking up my second pillow I hastily stuffed it under the bedcovers and arranged it so it looked like I was still sleeping there. I then snatched up my bow and quiver and moved silently to the shadows in the far corner of the room and on the same wall as my window. I attached a single arrow to my bow and aimed it at my window, waiting for my intruder to emerge. I knew that it was an intruder because if any of the others had been planning on coming here tonight they would have told me, also there was no way that it was George trying to jump from window to window as it would have been easier just to wait until he was sure my parents were asleep and use the door. The curtains were blowing slightly in the night breeze that blew through my open window as a medium sized male figure dressed all in black climbed through my window, using the front porch as a platform to stand on probably. The intruder had his back to me, his head turned in the direction of my bed from the moment he entered the room, and this meant that he hadn't noticed me. I moved from the shadows, following him as he took silent steps forward towards my supposedly sleeping form. He stopped at the foot of my bed, unable to notice that I wasn't really there because the room was so dark. Moving with intent and annoyance I stopped right behind him, my breathing shallow and inaudible to all ears bar my own as I rested the arrow head on the small of his back. He froze.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's polite to knock before you enter a room?" I asked, not moving from my attacking position and waiting for a response so I could assess the threat. Though to be honest anyone who sneaks into someone's bedroom in the middle of the night is somewhat of a threat, not that those times I'd snuck into both George's and the Kennedy sister's rooms on a night made me look all that good by that reasoning.

"You should know I've never been one for manners Robin," an irritating and familiar voice replied. I groaned internally but did not lower my bow, what did Adam want?

"Now that I can believe," I said as I shook my fringe from my face and glared at Adam's back "what are you doing here Adam?"

Confidently Adam turned; a self assured and cocky grin in place as he shrugged me off as a threat and ignored my bow as though it were only a child's toy. "I thought we went through this weeks ago, you should know why I'm here by now, or maybe that bump to your head made you forget a few things." He said, his fingers brushing over my forehead in search of the bump that was hidden by my hair and in fact no where near his touch. I jerked away from his fingers and shot him a disgusted look, suddenly remembering why Adam was here, the text I had received earlier appeared before my minds eye again, he had said that he had some clothes that needed washing and a favour to ask me. Irritation seeped through me, I had mercifully forgotten about my enslavement thanks to a few hours with George but now it was all coming back to me with infuriating clarity, Adam owned my soul now.

"What is it?" I asked crossly, lowering my bow reluctantly though refusing to put it down, I knew Adam too well for that. Flashing me his best smug smile Adam strode across my bedroom and lent out of my bedroom window, I had to remind myself of my own polices and values just to stop myself from pushing him out of it, and I can't even tell you how appealing that was. He then pulled a black bin bag (obviously he wasn't that well off yet) through the window, I assumed he had left it resting on the porch roof until he wanted it.

"Laundry," Adam said as he indicated towards the bag on the floor.

I cocked my hip and frowned "I gathered," I said testily as I glanced at the clock on the wall, the time I read there surprised me, I must have fallen asleep earlier seeing as more time had passed that I had thought. This reassured me a little though, because this meant that the rest of the house was more likely to be asleep, I had been worried about George (who had the sharpest hearing out of the lot of us) hearing this exchange "but what's this favour you want from me?"

Adam's grin widened and became even slyer; I fought back the urge to go over there and wipe it from his face with a swift right hook and gritted my teeth. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he said and I rolled my eyes, having enough of Adams games already.

"Look, I don't have the time for this, either tell me what you want or piss off. I've had a busy day and I don't want anyone hearing you." I said, keeping my voice down just in case anyone was still awake, there had been a few close calls with Adam's visits in the past and I had been worried my parents had heard him in here, to be honest I think they thought it was George, ergh, they couldn't have been further from the truth.

"I'm sure you have had a busy day, getting out of the hospital after a three day sleep must have been very draining. I trust you're feeling better now though," Adam said sarcastically as he took another step towards me and smiled slickly at me, I shot him a look which only seemed to amuse him more. "What happened anyway, you've not told me why you were in there?"

"It's got nothing to do with you," I assured him coldly, batting his hand away as he reached to touch me again and glaring at him. He might already know who I am and almost every single one of my secrets, however I wasn't about to tell him what happened to me or what I thought happened while I was unconscious. Ha, I was so keeping that one to myself.

"But Peter Perfect is allowed to know of course," Adam said as he continued to close the space between us just as I stepped back to widen it "I heard he spent the whole three days by your bedside, never leaving you, never sleeping, except to see his father of course. Aww, how sweet. How is he any way, moving out of his fathers house must have been difficult, but then again at least he has your shoulder to cry on?" Adam taunted and I felt my frown deepen, well even though my loved up heart hovered a bit at his claims of George staying by my side while I was in the hospital, if this was true then George really was beyond perfect. However I had no time for that as my defensive side came out and I said,

"It's none of your business, and how do you know that? No one else was there on the hospital ward; my parents never said you were there"

"That's because I wasn't, though I thought about bringing you some flowers and dropping off my shopping list." Adam said laughing at his own joke though I only made a disgusted noise "and how do I know that Georgie boy is living here now? Have you forgotten who I work for Robin, there's not much that I don't know around town any more."

"I'm sure there's not," I said unable and unwilling to keep the repulsion from my voice "being Baxter's spy has its perks then?" I said, remembering how Baxter had hired Adam to follow George when he first suspected he was up to something.

"And being the town saint doesn't?" he asked "it's not like you don't have sources around the town as well, like you don't know everything already."

Worry took hold of me suddenly, what did he mean by that, did he know something? Did Adam know more than he was letting on, had he found out about how much Joe, Jess, Josh and the Kennedy sisters helped us, were they in danger? I was anxious but I showed no reaction to his words but felt the very last of my defences go up and my hostility grow suddenly, I'd install cameras at all their houses, keep them all safe.

"That's got nothing to do with anything," I said, my grip tightening on my bow "tell me what you want Adam?"

"Oh, not in the mood to chat today are we?" Adam asked mockingly as he regarded me with interest "what is it, have a done something to upset you, or maybe you're frightened Mr Perfect is going to hear me in here?"

I felt my eyes narrow and I threw Adam a loathsome look but didn't dignify his comment with an answer, I didn't really want to give anything away here, my instincts were telling me that Adam ought not to know about George and I, at least not yet, and I was going to listen to my instincts for once. However a look of realisation dawned on Adams face and I worked my hardest to keep my face innocent and indifferent, I showed no reaction as Adam spoke.

"Of course that's it," he said as something behind his eyes darkened and his jovial and smug expression vanished. Despite this I showed no outward sign of emotion, though inside I was thinking, crap, crap, he knows. "You're still pining after him, I thought you'd given up with him by now, realised it wasn't going anywhere. Maybe you're not as tough and independent as I thought you were."

"Shut up," I hissed, my fury mounting at Adam's words and my grip on my bow tightening so much I was in danger of snapping it. Self righteous prat, who did he think he was, talking to me like that? I wasn't pinning, I never pined, George and I had something special and it was something that pain in the arse couldn't inspire in anyone. Least of all me! Who was he to talk, pinning, ha, what the hell was he doing here then, forcing his company on me when I wanted nothing to do with him? hypocrite! "I'm not pinning after George 'cause I don't need to."

Adam's brow frowned suddenly, it wasn't a cute or endearing motion like it would have been on George, no on Adam it was menacing and coupled with his flashing dark eyes it was down right worrying. Only my pride kept me in place and stopped me from stepping away from him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Use your brain Adam, what do you think it means?" I asked coldly, sticking my chin out in defiance and standing tall, noticing all the while how much Adam had changed these past months. He wasn't the same embarrassing, mean and common lad who had at one point had a side to him that I found attractive, no, now he was cruel, calculative and sadistic, he looked more and more like Baxter every day, more than even George who was a blood relation to the businessman did.

Adam glared at me threateningly, not appreciating the way I had spoken to him but I was past caring, he wound me up so much, I could hardly control my anger when I was around him, it was that bad. I hated him so much right now; words could not describe how much I despised him.

"You don't need to pine after him?" Adam asked, his voice taking on a dangerous and dark tone though I in no way backed down, if anything I matched his confidence and sounded proud and powerful when I spoke.

"No, I don't need to." I said as loudly as I dared for fear of waking someone up. Totally not caring anymore if Adam found out about George and me, instincts be damned.

"Then you're together, you and the Baxter brat?" He asked, his voice shaking but not from fear or upset, no it was malevolence that shook his voice and had him balling his fists by his sides. Adam looked terrifying, a threatening aura came across him and he seemed about ready to snap, but me being me I didn't noticed this and carried on antagonising him.

"And here I was thinking you knew everything." I scoffed harshly; he looked at me then, his brown eyes seeming black in the darkness of my room. Even then I didn't notice the change in him.

"You," Adam said taking a menacing step towards me, I took a step back, stopping when I sensed the wall not too far behind me and realising that maybe I had said the wrong thing. "And he?" Adam asked and I narrowed my eyes even though I felt a slight rush of fear for the man before me, this wasn't Adam, not even at his very lowest, something was wrong.

I nodded and Adam sprang forward, his right hand closed around my throat and the next thing I knew I was being slammed against the bedroom wall, Adam's body pinning me there and freezing me in shock. My bow fell out of my grip and hit the floor with a soft thud, my hands shot to my neck and I tried to prise Adam's cold fingers from my neck "what is you're problem Robin, do you want to see him dead? Are you trying to see how far you can push me before I make good of my promise and tell Baxter what I know about his son?" he asked and shot him a look as a clawed at his hands before saying,

"Its none of your business, you don't own me, not anymore…" I started to whisper shout before Adam tightened his grip on my neck and cut off my words before they even reached my mouth.

"Do you?" Adam hissed as he leaned in close. Anger and fear were holding me just as tightly as Adam was now, what was he doing? Adam was many things but violent in this sense was not one of them; he'd never done something like this before, not ever. I looked into his dark eyes and saw something I'd never seen there before, a deadly combination of hate and self pity.

"No," I wheezed as aggressively as I could as I lashed out at Adam, kicking out at him and pulling at his hands, it had no effect though, as Adam sudden mood shift had given him the strength to pin me there, rendering my inherited strengths and abilities useless.

"Good because you are pushing my patience to its very limit. Why should he get you?" Adam raged as he lifted me higher up the wall "what did he ever do to deserve everything; he has money, power, influence and now even you. He has everything and he even has to gall to walk away from it all, to turn his nose up at it." it dawned on me then, Adam's real reason for all this was jealousy, and not even jealousy over me, he despised George for everything he had and wanted to have something over him "I deserve more than this, I deserve to have what he has! I have slaved away for his father, I am a good employee, a good servant to Baxter, and I would never turn my nose up at all he has to offer, all he has to teach. But still Baxter wants him, even after all he's done, I could do just as good a job of running things as he could, I've earned it!" Adam said and I glared at him as my struggling slowed and my legs stopped kicking.

"That," I choked out as Adam's nails dug into my neck and I winced as I scratched myself as I forced a gap between my neck and Adams grip with the fingers on both my hands "is not my problem!" I said as I prised Adam's fingers from my neck, he looked shocked for a moment before I brought back my fist, feeling great satisfaction when my fist collided with his cheek and he went flying.

Adam fell to the floor, his hand instantly shot to where I had punched him and he turned to look at me with wide accusing eyes. My chest rose and fell furiously as I watched his face; he felt no remorse, not one single shred of regret for what he had done to me out of pure jealousy. But what had I expected? My neck was stinging as I clenched and unclenched my fists angrily and stared at Adam, willing him to say something cruel to me but he remained mute.

"Get over it," I hissed "life isn't fair and then you die, that's what the rest of us have to deal with why should you be any different?"

"The poor get you to give them money, who gives me status Robin?" Adam asked as he got to his feet, speaking as though they were the same thing, his callous and cold tone only infuriating me even more.

"Baxter does," I said scathingly "and if he doesn't then boo hoo, there are worse things to have to suffer than being stuck as a Have Not."

"There is nothing worse than being a filthy Have Not." Adam said, his distaste for his own social class ringing out in his words.

"You're deluding yourself if you think being one of them will make your life easier," I said before pointing at the window and saying "leave,"

"Ha, you still worried Prince Charming's going to see me in here and dump you?" Adam asked mockingly, as though he was in a position to taunt anyone.

Hastily I picked up my bow and started toward Adam, "Get out!" I shouted and Adam backed away, as though frightened I might hit him again but then stopped suddenly. I froze, hearing the creak of bed springs as someone sat up in the room next to mine. Adam flashed me a triumphant grin, showing all of his teeth before saying,

"Oh you've don't it now, Georgie boy will not be pleased to see me in here with you, especially with you looking so flustered."

I glared at him, ready to chase him from the room. I didn't need to though, with a mocking glance at me and a hateful look in the direction of the door Adam was out of the window and disappearing into the night. I was still glaring out the open window when my bedroom door was thrown open.

"Robin," George breathed worriedly as I turned to face him, dressed only in a pair of shorts and a T shit "are you okay, I heard shouting?"

"Did you?" I asked lightly, or at least as lightly as I could under the circumstances, tying to look innocent as I kicked Adam's laundry bag under my bed "I didn't hear anything, I just got up to close my window because I was a bit cold." I lied, hating myself all the while. George frowned in confusion, a motion that pulled on my heart strings and made me wish I didn't have to lie to him, but I had no choice in the matter, it was one of Adam's conditions and besides, I didn't think George would have reacted well to the whole Adam owning my soul just to keep George safe thing.

My gaze roamed over George as he stood there in my doorway, naked from the waist up and dressed only in a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms. He was truly a sight to be hold, standing there with that adorable expression on his face, his golden blonde hair sticking up at odd angles around his head and tousled from sleep, his eyes seemed to shine in the dark and light up the whole room, where as Adam's had seemed the colour of charcoal. To complete this vision of perfection George was bathed in the glow of the bedroom light he had switched on before running to my room, the light spilling from his room and out into the hallway gave him the impression of giving off a golden glow. I sighed, I hated doing this to him, making him doubt himself and question things just so that I could lie and get away with what I was doing, not that I was doing anything wrong, just not something right either. I crossed the room swiftly, longing to be close to my new boyfriend and make up for what I was doing to him. The betrayal was all the worse now we were together.

"How are you finding your new room," I asked as I reached him and wrapped my arms around his bare waist, managing, even in my guilty state, to gaze appreciatively at his chest.

George's confused expression vanished and he smiled down at me before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer to him, his blue eyes were twinkling as he gazed down at me. "It's very nice, much better than my old one. Though I have to say," George said as he raised his hand to tenderly brush a strand of hair from my face "that I like yours a lot better, the view is much nicer."

I laughed quietly and grinned up at him "I kind of like it right now as well," I said as leaned in to kiss him, George chuckled and followed my lead. A frown crossed his face though, his gaze had wondered from my face to my neck and he pulled away before our lips could meet.

"Robin," George said worriedly as he pulled back a little so that he could look at my neck properly, he never let go of me though "what happened to you?" he asked, his voice becoming more firm and protective now. Crap, I thought as I watched his frown deepen as he regarded the red lines on my neck, Adam must have left a mark.

"It's nothing," I answered instinctively, though I contradicted myself when I winced as George's fingers brushed the angry red marks, his expression became even more troubled but George lightened his touch as he gently traced the marks Adam had made "I'm fine."

"You are not fine Robin," George said as he took his fingers away from my neck and looked me in the eyes again "who did this to you?"

"No one, I'm alright." I said sternly, sticking to my story, I knew what would happen if I told him the truth and it would not be pretty. I would deal with this on my own, like a big girl.

"Robin," George almost growled as protectiveness took over him and he saw through my lie "tell me. I don't know who you think you're protecting by not telling me but they most certainly are not worth it."

I almost let out a humourless laugh at that, I'm protecting you, I wanted to say, and I'm pretty sure that you are worth whatever Adam can throw at me. For course I couldn't say that, and what I said out loud was, "I'm telling you the truth, it's nothing. I must have done it somehow I don't know, I can't remember it." I could hardly believe it you know, that I was lying to him, me who had made such a big fuss about him lying to me about being the Crusader at the very beginning of all this. If I had known then that I was going to turn into such a hypocrite I might not have been so hard on him.

"Why don't I believe you Robin?" George asked me with all seriousness, I resisted the urge to gulp, I couldn't believe I was doing this to him.

"Because you worry too much," I said jokingly, trying to steer George out of this conversation without me actually having to answer his question of who had done this to me.

"Only because I care about you," George said and I swear to you that I wanted nothing more than to kick myself for what I was doing to him, he didn't deserve it. I looked away, unable to look at him when I was doing this to him.

"And I care about you," I said, sounding pretty emotional. George's face softened, I could see it out of the corner of my eye. Gently George placed his finger under my chin and turned my head so that I was looking him in the eye, he then promptly leaned in and kissed me sweetly on the lips. It was only a quick little thing, but despite that I could feel the emotion behind it and still felt as though I was slowly being lifted off the floor, it had been so tender.

"I know that," George said as he looked at me, his gorgeous eyes shining brightly "and I trust you, tell me that you're okay and that you're safe and…and I'll believe you."

I looked at him, feeling like crap but knowing what I had to do. "I'm fine; you don't need to worry about me." I said without any hesitation or outward sign of guilt, on the inside however I was overcome by it.

"I'm glad," George said as he pulled me to him again, I tightened my grip around his waist and hugged him back, drinking in his sent and resting my head against his chest, well aware of just how lucky I was to be able to do that. "We should probably go to sleep; we're both up early tomorrow." I felt George say; even though I was filled with shame I still couldn't help but smiled at how his chest moved when he spoke.

"Yeah," I said and I reluctantly pulled out of his embrace so that I could gaze up at him "good night." I said before swiftly reaching up and kissing him, trying to apologise without words for something he didn't even know I was doing. As George kissed me back I felt our kiss become less and less chaste, I wrapped my arms around his neck, desperate to bring him closer and show him just how much he meant to me. George tightened his grip around my waist as he pulled me to him, clearly just as eager as I was to get his feeling across. I would have been happy to stand there like that all night, to kiss him without ever having to let go, unfortunately my lungs had other ideas and screamed for oxygen. When we pulled apart both of us were panting, gasping for air as though we had just run a mile, George rested his forehead against mine as he whispered,

"I love you."

He smiled at me and then we pulled apart, "I love you too," I said, guilt returning even though those two words were the truest I knew. George lent in and kissed me on my cheek, ironically the same side that I had hit Adam on, before stepping back into the hallway.

"Good night," George said sweetly as he smiled at me and made his way towards his bedroom.

"Night," I replied, smiling at him even though it was a little forced. George didn't seem to notice this however and with one last loving look disappeared inside his room.

I closed my bedroom door and let out a tied noise. I didn't deserve him. I ran my hand through my hair before I frowned and marched across my room, well, part of what I'd said wouldn't be a lie, there was no way I was leaving that window open. I was just about to close it when something outside the window caught my eye; Adam was crouched on the porch roof, looking up at me with a mocking and slightly strained look on his face, having heard everything that George and I had just said.

"I'll be seeing you." Adam said with a cruel smile before quickly turning and dropping from the porch roof, vanishing from sight as the dark night swallowed him up. I shut my window and glared at it for a moment, yeah well I hope you brake your ankle, I thought angrily, irritated beyond belief that he had heard the conversation George and I had just had. Something was definitely different about Adam now, he had looked dark and menacing when he pinned me to the bedroom wall, something had changed with him, something had happened to him. He'd be lucky if I so much as cared now though, I thought as I rubbed the sore spots on my neck, if they bruised tomorrow I'd kill him, blackmail and new dark side or not. Still feeling guilty and discontented I climbed back into bed, throwing the pillow I had used to fool Adam onto the floor before laying down and falling into a fitful sleep. I woke up a few hours later, covered in sweat with images of rain drenched fields and death flashing through my head.

**Three weeks later**

I looked at Adam cautiously, that dark and menacing look wasn't on his face now, he looked completely normal, that smug and sneering expression on his face once again.

"George trusts me, and probably wouldn't mind all that much," I said, more to make a point than anything else since George would have most definitely minded if I went to Adam's, what kind of boyfriend would he be if he didn't? That wasn't the point though "however, I would mind if I went to your house, and I definitely wouldn't like it." I said shooting him an unimpressed look before looking over his shoulder in search of the bus, come on, how long did it really take to get here?

"I'm sure that I could make sure you enjoyed it." Adam said and I stifled a shudder at the slime ball's words.

"You're disgusting Adam, you know that." I said, still refusing to look at him and still trying to make the bus arrive faster.

"That or you just need to learn to loosen up a bit," Adam said boldly before adding "Penelope."

My head snapped in his direction then, I hated it when he called me that, and the fact that the last time he'd said it we (me, George and Adam) had been in Café Locksley arguing at the time didn't help things as it only brought back cringe worthy memories. "Don't call me that." I said bluntly, feeling my anger mount again, I really was tired of Adam now, he was exhausting and beyond difficult to be around these days.

"I think that it suits…" Adam started but I cut across him, beaming with relief when the bus rounded the corner and drove towards the stop.

"Thank God," I breathed as I pulled my bag round so that I could hut through it for my purse, I swear, I have never been so happy to see the huge, ancient hunk of metal in all my life.

The bus came to a stop before me and I waited for the doors to open, looking over my shoulder at Adam, who was resting against the bus stop sign again "not that this conversation hasn't been interesting and all, but some of us actually have to go to work and earn money, we don't all have slaves we can throw paperwork at and influential mentors to give us jobs." I said sarcastically, stopping from turning back to face the bus, now that the doors had just opened, when I caught the expression Adam was wearing.

A sly smile spread across Adam's face as he regarded me "no, we don't all have slaves to work for us; it's a privilege of the upper-class." Adam said, clearly renouncing his status as a working-class lad "and while we're on the topic of slaves, why don't you try and remember the definition of one is. I own you Robin."

"Like Hell you do." I said angrily, he didn't own me; he didn't, not now and not ever.

Adam just smiled at me; it was the smile of the predator that had just cornered its prey, I felt my jaw set and a frown grow on my face. He was reminding me of what it was that he had over me and that alone was enough to keep me silent and make me notice the figurative shackles he had around my wrists.

"Are you getting on this bus love?" The bus driver asked irritable through the open doors behind me, I didn't turn to look at him though and didn't answer, I just kept on looking at Adam, remembering the expression 'if looks could kill', all the while.

"As your slave driver I suggest you get on that bus and head off to your day job, you don't want to give Jordans another excuse to sack you." Adam said, nodding towards the bus "oh and I'll expect you at the house around eight-ish then?" Adam asked though I could tell it was in no way a question, his smile widened as he took in my furious expression and frozen stance. Deciding that his work was done and that he'd tormented me for long enough for now Adam turned on his heel and walked away, the faint sounds of his vindictive laugh reaching me even as he disappeared from sight.

**Author note: ta da, it's not amazing I know but I had some fun writing it and there it is. I wanted to show you Adam's reaction to finding out about Robin and George and I thought now would be a good time to do it, is two flash backs in two chapters a bad thing? Do it mess it up in anyway, please let me know if so. Also I had a thought whilst flicking though my iPod the other day, let me know if you agree with it, I rather like Good Charlotte 'lifestyles of the rich and famous' as a Robin Hood song. What do you guys think? Also, if you have the time and interest to do so, please check out my new character icon on my page, I've made one for all my main characters and its on Robin right now, if you like it and want to see the others I'll show you them. Thanks for reading; much love goes out to you all. Please review and let me know what you think. :) x**


	4. Bad dreams

**Author note: Hello people, here is chapter four in a hopefully timely fashion. I hope you like it. I do have a bit of bad news though, this will be my last post for about a month, I am rather foolishly taking part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and although I can see it all ending in tears with me not competing the novel in time and getting seriously behind with my A Levels, I really want to give it a go. As if I wasn't already busy enough. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you are) this means I shall be taking a brake from writing both Robin Hudson and my Rachel Morgan fic for one month. I can only hope that you understand. Please enjoy this chapter and I'm sorry. Oh and also the result of my poll will be made evident in this chapter. enjoy :)**

**Chapter four**

**Outside Sherwood House**

"Argh!" I groaned loudly as I marched from the bus stop and down the street towards Sherwood.

I can't believe it, I thought angrily as I neared the office, Jordans was such an ass at times, no wait scratch that, Jordans was an ass, period! There really had been no point in me getting up for work today and that pissed me off more than I could say seeing as I could have avoided that little scene with Adam if I hadn't thought I had work this morning. The café was closed today, apparently Jordans was taking the weekend off to go on a holiday to the coast with his wife and kids (I know, someone was actually naive enough to marry the controlling plonker!) and he had 'forgotten' to tell both Carrie and me. Both of us had arrived at the café half an hour before opening time to be greeted by a formal printed note pinned to the door saying that the café was closed until Monday when business would resume as normal; this note was for the customers. That had been the first we had heard of it, we were confused until Carrie noticed a crappy handwritten note beneath the printed one saying where Jordans had gone and that we were to go home but arrive promptly for work on Monday for our shifts. Angry at my inconsiderate boss I had ripped the note from the door and crunched it in my hand to release some of my anger, Carrie hadn't minded and had looked to me as though she too was very pissed off with Jordans' careless attitude. He just didn't care, not even in the slightest, sure it was inconvenient for me that I wasn't working today, what with having to get up and the wasted journey, not to mention how I needed the money since I had cut down my hours so I could go to college, but it was even worse for Carrie. As the soul bread winner in the house (apart from Will, though she didn't take a penny from him) thanks to Baxter making it impossible for Andy to get work in his trade, Carrie needed all the hours she could get, she worked all week long and probably more than double the hours I worked but it still wasn't enough and it didn't help her in the slightest to be sent home like this. Not that Jordans cared. I felt guilty about it to be honest, because George was staying with us now Alice had to stay with the Spencers and it was one more mouth to feed even though we tried to have them around at ours as often as we could, still, it must have been hard for them. But I suppose that's what communities like ours did, we all knew hardships and stuck together to try and share to load a little bit for each other, that was part of the reason why we had taken George in (other than the fact that I'm head over heals for him) and why Carrie and her family had been so quick to let Alice stay with them, it was a real old fashioned, almost extinct, working-class sense of community. It's what helped to keep us going.

Shaking my fringe out of my eyes angrily as I marched down the street I felt the all too familiar sense of injustice fill me. It just wasn't fair, none of this was, we shouldn't have to live like this, scrimping and scraping to keep ourselves alive, so badly off that even missing just one day of work had a big impact. I tried to calm down, telling myself that I was trying to do something about it, that the others and I were trying to change things here, to make things easier. But I couldn't stop myself from wondering what we were actually achieving, sure we handed out money to those who really, really needed it and occasionally thwarted the more dastardly of Baxter's plans, but what were we actually achieving here? Really, we were just a short term solution to a long term problem, a problem that had been in this town for a hundred years and showed no signs of leaving anytime soon, despite our efforts. That irritated me more than I could say, that try as we might there was only so much that we could do, that in spite of all our efforts poverty was still crippling this town. The people were on their knees, begging for a release and all I could do was throw them the occasional coin to keep them from losing all hope, to keep them living so that they could continue to be exploited.

I sighed as I reached the office, anger exhausting more than the short walk had, I pushed open the gate and walked along the small garden path that led to the front door. I reached for the door handle, knowing that Jacobs would be in his office already so the door would be unlocked, and stepped into the entrance hall, hoping all the while that Adam wasn't in today. I fought hard to push aside the hopeless thoughts that had taken root in my mind and decided on what I would do today at the office to distract myself, remembering that there were a few more names that needed to be added to our list and that I needed to check for any painting jobs we had scheduled in our diary, just in case. It was rent day soon, so we could do with the money even if it was only a friend of John's we were paying. Taking to the steps that led to the second floor without even a glance in the direction of Jacobs' and Adam's office, I raced up the stairs onto the landing, stopping before the door that led to our little reception and taking out my keys. I went to unlock the door before noticing that it was open already, wondering who was in this early (though that said it was gone twelve o'clock since Carrie and I had spent a good amount of time planning how best to get back at Jordans before I headed over here) since everyone was supposed to be out, Jack had gotten a job in the hospital cafeteria the other week so now even she ought to be at work. I thought about it then, no one else was working today, since they all had tickets for the Locksdale, Sheffield Wednesday game and would be on their way there by now. I stepped into the reception, walking past the desk and the button with 'please ring for attention' written on a piece of paper taped to the desk before it as I approached the door that led to our office which took the rest of the top floor.

I opened the office door a little cautiously but felt a wide smile spread across my lips as I spotted who was sat in there. George was sat at the head of the long meeting table, dressed in a white button up shirt, with three buttons opened up and cufflinks unfastened so that he could roll his shirt sleeves up to his elbows, he also wore a smart black trousers that fell gently against a pair of polished black shoes. A black jacket matching his trousers was thrown over the back of this chair and his blond hair was messy, as though he had been running his hands through it. The tiny crappy TV we kept in the office was turned on, positioned against the wall across from George and below the overhead projector screen, the battered Freeview box balanced precariously atop the TV. The TV was switched onto Sky Sports News and Soccer Saturday was on, where Jeff Stelling was giving an animated explanation of the latest football scores. George wasn't watching the TV though, not really, he was flicking through a newspaper, staring at the print intently and hadn't heard me come in. Closing the door silently and placing my bag on the floor I turned back to George my grin widening as I started to creep towards him in perfect silence, he must have been really engrossed in what he was reading since even George's abnormally sharp ears didn't hear me as I approached him. My bad mood all but a memory for the time being I hastily closed the distance between George and I, feeling the pull he had over me as I speeded up, wanted to reach him sooner. I waited until I was right behind George before I lent in towards him, feeling mischievous as George felt my warm breath on his neck and froze.

"Boo," I whispered in his ear, laughing as I pulled back and he span around to look at me, shock on his face until his gaze settled on mine. A wide grin spread across his face as he looked at me, he then pushed his chair out and opened his arms for me to sit in his lap as he asked,

"I though that you had work?" he made no effort to hide the happiness he felt at seeing me from his voice and that alone almost made being sent home today worth it, just to see that look on his face.

Feeling completely unashamed of the fact, I sat down in his lap and roped my arms around his neck as I said "don't even get me started about it, it wont be fun to listen to me rant on about how careless Jordans is. Basically, the café is shut today. Anyway, I thought you had to go to a meeting or something today."

"I did, but the meeting was called off, something came up and my father had urgent business elsewhere." George said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him, he shrugged as he finished his sentence "I'm not exactly complaining, I didn't want to have to go to that meeting, I'm just worried about what could be so important that my father would back out of it." I nodded, admitting that that was definitely worrisome. What is Baxter up to now? I wondered.

"What you reading?" I asked as my mind wandered to the many possibilities for Baxter's strange behaviour, none of which I liked very much. Taking my arms from around George's neck and peering at the newspaper laid out on the table I realised that it was the Locksdale Enquirer and that it was open at the recruitment page.

"I need a job," George said after following my gaze to the paper "I don't have any money now my father has frozen my bank account and I can't possibly ask anyone to loan me any, I've already taken advantage of everyone enough."

"You've hardly taken advantage," I said moving my gaze back to George's face as I spoke "everyone only wants to help. Besides, do you honestly think that you've got time for a job? You never stop as it is George." I said sternly, George already had too much on, what with college, helping out on the farm so he didn't have to pay rent, going to meetings with his father and doing all the jobs of a merry man.

"I don't do anymore than you do Robin, and you manage." he said, looking stern himself, reminding me why he was the only one who ever stood a chance of standing up to me "I'm going to pull my weight Robin, and I'm going to need the money."

"You do pull your weight George," I said honestly, not trying to placate him in the slightest, just simply telling the truth "did you find anything you want to take?" I asked, my gaze flicking to the paper again before back to George. He shook his head.

"Not really, I'm sure I'll find something though." he said as he arms tightened around me, he then rested his head on my shoulder and pressed my back against his chest. I heard him inhale deeply and I lent back towards him, enjoying being so close to him, it happened so rarely what with my dads rules and how busy we'd been these past few weeks.

"What's the score?" I asked, nodding my head towards the TV a little, he felt the motion and answered.

"Not sure, its halftime though I think." he said and I felt myself frown in confusion, how could it be halftime already, wasn't it too early for that? It was meant to start at one o'clock wasn't it?

"Already?" I asked and I felt George nod.

"The kick off was on time, a bit earlier than the other games since it set off at one, but it was still on time." He said and I frowned a little, huh, Carrie and I must have spent more time plotting than I had thought, no wonder I was pretty hungry right now. Like I had said earlier, all the others were at the match, well everyone bar Mark who was busy working on something. I was supposed to be there right now and that had been partly why I was so annoyed that I wasn't even working today, both George and I had been supposed to be going with the others and it would have been a good day out had we gone. I wasn't overly fussed for football, but it was by far my favourite sport and I could watch a match if it was Locksdale or England playing, for years now it had been a ritual of mine and Will's to go to a few of the home games each season and the others had got involved with this tradition now the season had started again. We were fairly proud supporters of Locksdale FC; we were only a Championship side, not Premiership material though we maintained a mid-table status.

We listened as Jeff Stelling told us of all the games that were starting their second half, there wasn't that many since Locksdale vs. Sheff Wednesday had kicked off early. The room was silent but we were happy enough just to be sat with each other, comfortable in each others presence and enjoying the moment.

Reluctantly I decided that I had to get something done. George's hands slipped from around my waist as I stood up and walked over to the other end of the room, in search of our work diary. A quick glance over my shoulder told me that George was regarding me with a strange look; it was as though I fascinated him but had just robbed him of something at the same time. I grinned, deciding to be a bit mischievous, and cocked my hip before raising an eyebrow and asking,

"What?"

George looked at me, a coy smile playing with the corners of his lips as he asked "did you really have to get up so soon?"

"We've got things to do George," I said, my heart hovering in my chest as a result of his words, I was still getting used to feeling like this and felt myself blush a little because of that. Damn, I thought a little angrily, my bloody cheeks; couldn't they just give it a rest? "We've got some money packages to give out tonight as well." I said picking up our diary from the other end of the meeting table before walking back to my bag by the door and pulling out my notebook and a pen.

"Five more minutes?" George questioned, sounding adorably like a child, his voice as soft as goose feathers but with a slightly masculine edge which told me that he was no little boy. He didn't sound whiny in any way; he was just asking a question. I felt myself smile, my heart fluttering once again.

"Fine," I said happily as I started back towards George, he smiled back at me, knowing full well that I wasn't complaining here "but you owe me." I said, pointing at him jokingly before settling myself back on his lap with my notebook, pen and the diary.

"Of course," he said as he wrapped his arms around my waist again and rested his head on my shoulder so he could continue to look at the newspaper.

I felt my grin widen a little and set my things down on the table, George pushed his chair closer to the desk and we fell into another comfortable silence. A quick flick through the diary revealed we had no decorating jobs scheduled for the next two days, but we did have a small job pencilled in to start on Tuesday, it wouldn't take more than a few days as it was only to repaint two bedrooms in a Locksdale Upper teacher's house. I'd ask John and Will if they fancied it, we could all get involved but it was such a small job that we'd only get in each others way, it would be best just to send a few of us there instead. Setting the diary aside now that I was finished with it I picked up my notebook and pen, flicking to a blank page so that I could do a bit of planning. It wasn't anything big or dangerous, we weren't braking in anywhere tonight because despite what you might think that isn't the way we usually did things, big jobs like that were a special and rare occasion that seemed to be coming around a lot more often now though. Anyway, for now I was simply planning tonight's drop off, trying to figure out how best to utilise our time so that we got as much done as we possibly could, this involved deciding who took what street, how many packages each of us carried, what time we set off, what time we aimed to be finished by etc. As I wrote I was aware of time passing but I had no idea how much, I didn't glance at the clock once as I was too engrossed in what I was doing. Once or twice my mind wandered, heading towards the not too pleasant concern of what I was going to do about Adam, there was no way that I was going to his house, I couldn't, it went against everything I believed and I had long since drawn the line of how far I would go as Adam's slave. But that said, I wasn't doing any of this for Adam, I was sinking to the low, low level of being Adam's lackey so that I kept George safe. Surely that was worth it, keeping George from harm. I was half convinced that I should grit my teeth, go to Adam's house and see what he wanted, stopping him before he went too far of course (I shuddered at the alternative) and ultimately keeping my word by doing as asked, when I thought of something. What happened if George found out I had gone to Adams? He wouldn't want a girlfriend that snuck off to her ex's house in the middle of the night, and then claimed that nothing like that happened there but had already lied about where she was going in the first place. I REALLY did not like that thought; it had infuriated me and made me think that Adam was going to come between George and me one way or another. I pushed it aside, realising that if I didn't calm down soon George would feel me shaking with anger and know that something was up. I resolved to figure it out later and carried on with my work.

I closed my notebook, finally finished planning and put both it and my pen on the table. I noticed then that George had finished looking through the recruitment section of the Locksdale Enquirer and was now reading the Locksdale Star, the only paper that dared to print the truth about Baxter and the stories that the Enquirer was too afraid (or not allowed) to print. It was also the paper that had helped to convince the population of the town that my gang and I were not murderers when we had been wrapped up in the death of Andrew Kennedy, a former Baxter Industries worker who had actually been murdered by Baxter himself. Fortunately the Star had allowed Stephanie and Claire Kennedy to print a story about how we had saved their lives when Baxter had sent members of the BA after them, wanting to punish Kennedy from beyond the grave. The story had highlighted the fact that other than an arrow found at Kennedy's house there was no evidence to suggest we had killed him and that it was ridiculous to suggest that we had. In the end Baxter had decided that it wasn't worth trying to pin the murder on us, that he had wanted to make us outcasts and he had done that, Kennedy's death had ruled an accident (which is unbelievable!) and nothing more had been said about it. Anyway, George was flicking though the pages when I finished the plan and sat back against his chest. George sat back with me, realising that I had finished and abandoning the paper on the table.

"I should probably add those names to the list," I said, meaning the list of people who needed money parcels from us, we kept it hidden safely in a locked cabinet and even then the list only stated the three initials of the head of the household we would be helping. This meant that no one would suffer if the list was ever discovered, because Baxter wouldn't know their full names. We usually carried the list with us, because there was no readable names on the sheet it was safe to do that, this also had meant that the names list had mercifully escaped the fire, however I remembered leaving it a the office the other day. I made to grab the underside of the table to help me up but jolted a little when I felt George's arms tighten around me, refusing to let me stand. "George?" I questioned, laughing a little as I tired to break free of his grip.

"Umm?" George answered as he buried his face in the crook of my neck before turning his lips towards my neck and kissing me tenderly, lowering his lips and continuing to kiss me until he reached the neck of my boring plain black work shirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked, unable and unwilling to keep the smile from my voice and feeling a wide grin spread across my lips.

"Nothing," he murmured softly as he kissed my neck again, I shivered pleasantly before leaning into his touch, starting to enjoy myself immensely.

"Um, if you say so," I said as I lent against George's chest, feeling content to just sit there in his embrace but knowing I had some work to be getting done "I need to add those names George." I said reluctantly, George picked up on that and didn't move and inch.

"It'll wait a moment wont it, we won't forget them and the list isn't going anywhere, it's only on the table, I got it out earlier to check something" George said, his beautiful voice filling my ears with a sound with the rich texture of velvet, soft and enchanting "I've not seen you properly since the start of college,"

I sighed tiredly, why did he have to say that? Like I could resist him when he got like that, I could put up a good fight sure but ultimately I would give in. I really didn't want to have to get up, he'd practically read my mind when he said we hadn't seen each other properly all week, it had been bothering me as well and I just wanted to spend time with him. But the names needed to be added to the list. It was my job, my duty and my other passion to help the poor; I couldn't neglect my responsibilities just to spend a bit of time with my boyfriend. But it was George. I let out an irritated groan and I felt George pull me even closer, probably sensing victory was within his reach.

"I'm sorry if I'm pestering you," George murmured attractively as he stroked my neck "I've just really missed you. I know that we see each other everyday, but it's not the same, we haven't been alone in days. It's taken us too long to get to this point; I kind of want to make up for lost time."

Why did he always know the right thing to say? I wondered as I turned on his lap so that when I looked to my right I could see him. "I missed you too," I said, unlike George I wasn't especially good at making sure my partner knew I loved them, but with George I really wanted to try, I had to make sure that he knew "and I think I've got a pretty good idea what you mean, since its exactly how I feel as well. I'm sorry we're always so busy, you know I'd spend more time with you if I could?"

"I know," he said his blue eyes twinkling again as he locked his gaze with mine, the intensity back in them once again "it's not your fault, we are who we are and we can't help that."

"That we can't," I said as I put my arms around his neck, wanting to be even closer to him and not ashamed of the fact even in the slightest, I loved George, it was as simple as that.

Giving in to the need to be close to him I brought one arm from around his neck and pressed the palm of my hand against his cheek, staring into his seemingly bottomless blue eyes before leaning in to kiss him. Our lips met and the kiss was chaste at first, sweet and tender and everything you would expect from George. Then I felt George's grip tighten around my waist as our kiss intensified and I moved my hand from his cheek and back to his hair, winding the golden tresses around my fingers. I smiled against George's lips as our kiss deepened, knowing we hadn't lost ourselves like this since the day we got together, all embraces and shows of affection had been shy and simple since then, absolutely nothing like this. I pressed myself closer to George, finding the action difficult because of the way I was sat but more than willing to put up with the discomfort if it brought me nearer to George. His soft touch moved from my waist to my back, each gentle movement of his hand reminding me why I loved him so much, he was so different from anyone else I'd ever met before.

"Robin," he murmured in-between our kisses, his voice sounding as breathless as mine surely would, I had barely enough oxygen left in me to function but I was a tough girl and I couldn't have cared less. I breathed in deeply, taking in George's scent through my keen nose, he smelled like soap, expensive aftershave and some sort of woody smell I associated with arrows. I lent in to kiss him again, glad that we had this time just to be together after such a long time without that, I really had missed him. Though as with everything else good in my life of lately, it only lasted for so long. I was aware of the sound of chanting at the back of my mind but I didn't acknowledge it, choosing instead to ignore the noise. Literally seconds after my lips met George's the door was thrown open, we broke apart and our heads snapped in the direction of the door, instincts on high alert though they needed not have been. The chanting cut off abruptly.

"Gawd, get a room wont you," John said loudly and jokingly as he walked into the office, green clad in his Locksdale FC shirt and scarf, his kind face half painted a dark emerald colour. Jack and Will were right behind him, both dressed in green football shirts and scarf's, though evidently they had both opted out of the face paint. John was clearly a very avid supporter of the club.

Laughing a little to himself George rested his head against the back of mine, blushing furiously and not happy that the others had just witnessed that moment between George and I, I turned to look at George. He was sat there, a shy smile on his lips and his cheeks a bright pink colour in embarrassment, however he still held onto me tightly and showed no signs of throwing me from his lap now the others were here. I smiled at him before turning back to look at the others, Jack was grinning at us and smiling all knowingly again, she had been very I-told-you-so about George and I getting together, claiming she knew it would happen all along, which of course she did. Will however didn't look impressed, I guessed he was going into full on big brother mode again as he shook his head at us but didn't say anything, he knew better than to.

"Ever hear of knocking?" I asked as I span on Georges lap to face them and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, working on bringing the blush down from my cheeks.

"We didn't know anyone was in here did we?" John said, still grinning as he sat down on a chair of his own "we thought you were both busy today…well busy in other ways." John said laughing a little and I rolled my eyes; he was loving this wasn't he.

"We were, but the café was shut and Baxter cancelled his meeting," I said trying to act normal, my success, minimal as I could still feel George's breath on my neck.

"Why?" Jack asked, suddenly serious and thinking along the same lines George and I had been.

"We don't know, though it's got to be something be something important to make father run off like that." George said, voicing what we had said earlier.

"Worth looking into," Jack said as she wrote it down on a piece of paper and stuck the note on out notice board along with all our other mysterious realisations, she looked serious though she still managed to shoot me a joking look as she passed me. Swell, I wasn't going to live this one down any time soon.

"What was the score then?" I asked, eager to change the subject again and get it as far away from what George and I had been up to as I could "we weren't keeping an eye on the TV."

"We can see that," Will said curtly and I shot him a raised eyebrow look, wondering what was with him. Will shrugged and I realised that his cheeks were a slight pink colour, aw bless him, we'd embarrassed him "I'm just saying, you're like a sister to me, it's not exactly what I want to see."

I looked at him, finding his brotherly concern only a little bit annoying but mostly sweet "I'll bare that in mind," I said, not in a sarcastic or biting way, I really would bare it in mind. Will nodded and I watched as the pink started to leave his cheeks now he'd got his point across.

"Sorry Will," George said sincerely and Will sat down, smiling at his friend a little from across the table. It was all good.

"John?" I asked as I turned to him, knowing just from the look on his face that he was itching to answer my question.

"Three, one," John said, his voice hitting that loud and masculine chant level that football supporters reached when shouting in the stands, I guessed the score had been what he and the others had been singing when they came up the stairs. "To us." he said a wide smile spreading across his lips.

I laughed as John took the scarf from around his neck, held each end in one of his hands, held it above his head and started to sway as he chanted "three, one, three, one, three, one, three, one. Three….one…three…one!" I heard George chuckle in my ear as Will joined in with the singing and Jack started laughing over by the notice board. I smiled content once again to be sat here with my extended family, because essentially that's what they were to me, my family.

I wished that I had been able to go to the match; the atmosphere would have been great thanks to the score and I'm sure I'd have enjoyed myself. However, I certainly wasn't complaining that I had the chance to spend some time with George, however short the amount of time was. I was lucky to have had that long really and I was still waiting for something to go wrong, my friends and family were the only constant in my life right now, the only thing that wasn't going pare shaped, so I figured it was only a matter of time. Pushing the negative thought from my brain I focused on the here and now, laughing along with my friends as they clowned around pretending we were just like any other group of teenagers, no destiny, no horrific dreams, no worries, just normal. We were still laughing when the office door was thrown open for a second time, we fell silent instantly, turning in unison to the door all our eyes narrowed and out instincts blazing, we hadn't heard the intruder approach. Everyone relaxed when we realised who was standing there, it was only Mark, a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose and a notebook in hand. Everyone greeted him warmly, going back to their carefree mood and relaxing. I didn't, I was watching Mark as he brushed off everyone's greeting and staggered towards the meeting table where he started to desperately riffle through the papers there. I looked at him, his short blond hair was sticking up at odd angles around his head, it looked as though he had just tumbled out of bed or else walked through a wind storm, his clothes weren't on properly and his top appeared to be inside out. I then felt my gaze move to his face and from there it was instantly pulled to his eyes, green orbs wide and frantic as he searched though there was a ring of dark purple under his eyes, it looked as though he hadn't slept in weeks and I remembered then that he had been looking more and more tired every time I had seen him. Something was wrong.

"Mark, are you all right?" I asked, the evident worry in my voice causing all other conversations to stop Mark to halt in his frantic search, he didn't look at me though, I could tell from the look on his face that he knew we were all watching him in concern but the tired expression he wore told me he didn't care.

"I'm fine," he said as he went back to searching, he soon gave up though when it became evident that whatever he was searching for wasn't there and he let out an irritated groan before picking up his notebook and flicking through it violently. I recognised the notebook, Mark had been carrying it around with him for weeks, maybe even since the very beginning I think. He had always had it with him and I had just assumed that when he would take it out and scribble furiously he was writing down some new idea or another. Now I wasn't so sure.

"You're not mate," Will said, his gaze flicking to mine in understanding before he looked back to Mark "something's wrong with you, what is it?"

"It's nothing, really, I can handle it?" Mark said as he continued to flick through his book, showing no signs of calming down at all.

"Handle what?" John asked, regarding his friend with a look of concern, he knew Mark well enough to know when something was wrong, we all did, Mark never acted like this.

"You can tell us Mark, we can help." Jack said, obviously starting to think of the worst possibilities, I couldn't even consider the fact that Mark was in trouble, it worried me too much, but something was definitely up and I kept quiet for the moment, just watching Mark.

"Thanks Jack but I don't think its ment to be like that," Mark said cryptically and we all shared a look, what was he talking about?

"You are tired," George observed, just as worried as the rest of us.

Mark slumped a little then, resting his hands on the table and turning away from the notebook. He nodded once before he said "yeah, I haven't slept properly in weeks."

"Why?" Jack asked stepping forward a bit "you can get things from the doctors to help you sleep if you're having trouble, and I know a recipe of my Grandma's to help you sleep."

"I've tried sleeping pills already, they don't work, the dreams don't stop and when they're done I can't sleep, it's like my mind won't let me." Mark said, sounding exhausted and on the verge of tears and that frightened me, smart, calm and logical Mark was about to cry. His words hit me then, dreams, he said he'd been having dreams. I shifted uncomfortably, visions of last night's (and every night's) springing to my mind and filling me with the urge to grab hold of George and keep him safe. Mark was having dreams as well, it wasn't just me, maybe I wasn't crazy and there was something to this, he must have been having the same dream as me since it distressed him so much, I knew it had to be bad.

"Dreams?" I asked, about to tell him that I'd been having dreams of my own but deciding against it at the last moment, my instincts telling me that now wasn't the time, that I shouldn't tell him, that it was Mark's…go? Oh I don't know, it was like it wasn't my turn to talk about my dreams yet, like some was telling me to wait and that Mark had to go first. "What dreams?"

Mark turned to look at me then, the full extent of his exhaustion becoming evident when we locked gazes; he looked terrible, how had I not noticed this sooner? Mark ran a hand through his already messy hair and sighed heavily before staring at me intently and saying,

"THE dream,"

**Author note: so that's it guys, not another post for another month, again I'm sorry but I really want to do this. Anyway please let me know what you think of this and check out my John icon if you aren't tired of them already, I love hearing from you. Oh and I just thought I'd tell you this, I really like Snow Patrol 'You're all that I have' as a George song, I think it suits as in effect Robin really is all he has. What do you think?**

**Thanks again for reading, I hope December comes soon. Happy Halloween and happy Bonfire Night as well to those of you in the UK, since it's on the 5th of November. :) x**


	5. Profacy problems

**Author note: Hello, gawd, I've missed this and therefore I'm braking my own rule of not updating until the end of the month and here I am sending chapter five your way, I'm currently on par with my NaNoWriMo novel Siren Song (only just though) and I wrote most of this chapter while I was ahead with it and just finished it off today and rather than wait until the end of the month the post it I figured I do it now. So yeah, please enjoy it isn't all that long but I've been meaning to finish this for a while, hope you like it :) xxx**

**Chapter five**

**Sherwood House**

We all stared at Mark, watching him as he resumed flicking through his notebook and turning his words over in our minds, 'THE dream'? Surely that couldn't mean what we thought it did, that Mark had had the first dream more than once? The room was silent, it remained that way for a good number of minutes before Will spoke, his voice cutting through the thick silence and making Mark wince slightly at the noise.

"When you say THE dream, you don't mean….?" Will started hesitantly but Mark cut across him, losing his usual calm completely now and bordering on hysterical when he said,

"The dream we all had in the beginning, the one we had after we met the old woman and the one with the prophecy, yes that one."

I blinked, worried by the way Mark was acting and how pained and exhausted he seemed, it was almost as though he had reached his limit and was about to crack. I pulled myself from George's lap, brushing my fingertips across his hand reassuringly as I did so, before walking around the meeting table to where Mark stood, looking dead on his feet and as though he would like nothing more than to curl up into a ball. How could I not have noticed this sooner?

"How long has this been going on for?" I asked my friend as I put a calming hand on his shoulder, at my touch he turned to look at me, green eyes shinning with tears behind his reading glasses.

"Ever since the first night we had the dream, it never stopped coming, I've had it every night since then." He admitted and I felt like an even crappier friend, how could he have been going through this for so long without me noticing? Some friend I was.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked as I lowered myself into one of the chairs around the meeting table, I never took my hand from Mark's shoulder and he had no choice but to sit in the chair next to mine, I had a feeling he needed to sit down before he collapsed out of pure exhaustion.

"It wasn't bad at first," he said and out of the corner of my eye I saw Jack sit down next to the others, everyone was listening intently, worry etched across their features "the dream came to me every night but it wasn't distressing in any way, and they didn't effect my sleeping at all, I woke up every day feeling refreshed and ready to help people. I thought that was the desired effect and thought no more of it. I thought that it was happening to everyone, but I soon realised that none of you had this problem when I tried to broach the subject but you had almost no reaction," I thought about Mark's words, remembering almost instantly the many times that Mark had brought up the topic of repeated dreams, and how I hadn't understood the confused and thoughtful look that crossed his face every time we said we didn't have them. "So I figured that I was the only one who was supposed to be having the dream, that it meant that there was something that I had to do and this was something I had to deal with on my own or else the rest of you would have been having the dream as well. So I wrote down the prophecy one night after my dream and started to dissect it, cutting it into bits so that I could decipher what every little bit meant." I nodded, understanding Mark's reasoning and urging him to continue, wondering in the back of my mind all the while if my dream had a purpose "but then I got stuck," he admitted looking slightly ashamed, in response to this I tightened my grip on his shoulder and looked stern, he had no reason to be ashamed "I couldn't figure out what certain bits of it meant and that's when the dreams turned nasty. Well, I suppose the dreams themselves didn't turn nasty, they stayed the same, the old woman appeared, told me that I was a merry man and part of Robin Hood's gang, that it was my job to help Robin the best I could and then she recited the prophecy. Nothing changed there but I started waking up and feeling terrible, as though I had been having a nightmare or had just ran a mile in under a minute, I woke up everyday frightened and with the sense of failure. After that I started to wake up from my dream in the middle of the night, the same time every night, and then I found that I couldn't get back to sleep, my mind would let me dream just long enough for me to see the prophecy and then it would wake me up and I could never get back to sleep. That's been happening for a few weeks now."

Mark finished and hung his head in shame, I looked from my shattered friend to the note book on the desk and then to the rest of the outlaws around the table, my brow was frowned slightly in discontentment and they all wore similar expressions. This wasn't fair on Mark, he was so tired and filled with self disgust, he hadn't failed us and we needed to tell him that.

"You should have told us mate," John said as he watched Mark struggle to keep his eyes open "you shouldn't have put yourself through this."

"I thought it was my job, that it was my responsibility to find out what the prophecy meant. But now, now I'm too tired to care any more, I've forgotten what sheet I came here to look for I'm that tired, I've given up." Mark said before resting his head on his arms on the table and letting out a yawn.

"We're not giving up Mark," I said as I rubbed Mark's slumped shoulders "you've done your best and we appreciate that, but let us help you now, I know we can figure it out if we try."

Mark turned his head as it rested on his arms and looked at me, even though his eyes were half closed I could see the defeat there and I didn't like it. "We wont be able to figure it out Robin, I've had almost nothing else in my head for weeks now, it's impossible. I'm sorry, I was supposed to figure it out and I cant, I've failed you all." Mark groaned and I felt my heart drop a little, I had never seen Mark this way, so down and depressed, it frightened me to see him like this.

"It's okay to ask for help once in a while Mark," George said calmly and comfortingly from the head of the meeting table, Mark seemed too look up a little in hope and even I was basking in the waves of calm George's voice inspired "and you haven't failed us in the slightest, you did all you could do, we cant as for anything more."

I smiled at George, who was looking every inch, the potential powerful businessman once again, I was only glad he used his powers for good and that he was on our side. I smiled gratefully at George before turning back to Mark and speaking in my most inspiring and comforting voice "George is right, you did your best and we appreciate it."

Mark looked up at me, dark purple circles set in his skin but a new hope flickering in his eyes, now that was the Mark I knew.

"It's not healthy you not sleeping, we'll figure this out and then you can get right again," Will said before turning to Jack, asking her silently to confirm his words.

"He's right, you need your sleep Mark, you'll make yourself ill." Jack agreed and Mark looked at her sceptically before asking,

"What, even more so than I am now?"

Jack nodded and Mark copied the motion, contemplating for a brief second before sitting up "I've done all I can do, I don't know how much more we can figure out but I suppose six heads is better than one." he said as he pulled the notebook towards him, I pulled my chair closer to his and all the others leaned in towards the table in anticipation. John picked up the TV remote, his fingers fumbled with the control and he accidentally pressed the button for channel three before muting the TV.

"I'll go and make you my grandma's sleeping tonic," Jack said as she eyed Mark worriedly "I think I have everything I need in the fridge and you'll want to sleep when we've finished this." Mark nodded his thanks and Jack got up, walked briskly to the back of the office where there was a tiny (and I do mean tiny) kitchenette that had been installed after the fire, where she started to pull ingredients from the little fridge. Meanwhile Mark flicked through his notebook until he found the page he was looking for, where on there was a written copy of the prophecy we had heard in our dream, I looked at the annotated page and was slightly astounded by how many notes Mark had written on the page, it reminded me of my GCSE English Anthology there were so many scribbles on the page.

"When did you start doing this?" Will asked, Mark didn't even have to think about the question and answered straight away with,

"July, around the time we snuck into Baxter's office actually," Mark said passively and I thought back, remembering Mark carrying around this notebook that week.

"Right," Mark said as he settled his finger at the top of the page and the start of the prophecy "do you want me to tell you everything I have already?" he asked and we all nodded, it was the best place to start out really. Mark stifled a yawn before reading the first line of the poem, speaking loudly so that Jack over in the kitchenette could hear him "'rise again shall he of hood, and save the people who he could,'" Mark read before looking at the next section of the poem and saying in a very intellectual and slightly bored tone "well obviously that means that Robin Hood is going to 'rise again' in the form of an ancestor of his so that he can help to people of Locksdale, 'the people who he could', well, the people of this town are in dire need of some help and they are the people he can save."

"Obviously," John teased and Mark looked up at him sternly though he was grinning at his friend, Will, George and I smirked, glad things were lightening up a little.

"Carry on Mark," I said encouragingly and Mark carried on, not even having to look down at the notebook since he had heard the prophecy so many times, he was only using the page for reference.

"The next stanza reads, 'twice a foe with evil schemes, comes to destroy England's dreams,' this line refers to Baxter," Mark said, glancing in George's direction warily as he said it, not sure how George felt about Mark talking about his father like this, George however showed no sign of offence and Mark carried on "about how he's the incarnation of Prince John and that's why he is 'twice a foe'. Or at least that's how I interpret it. I'm not too sure about destroying 'England's dreams' though, I think maybe its referring to the state of calm the rest of the country is in compared to us, or they way things could be without Baxter around. I'm not sure." Mark said with a shrug though it was clear it was bothering him slightly.

I nodded in agreement of Mark's words and he carried on "after that is says 'In the lock of the dale our hero lies, But England must wait with tearful sighs', well clearly 'the lock of the dale,' is referring to Locksdale and this is where this revolution or whatever you want to call what we are trying to do," Mark said with a smirk before looking at us, each one of us wearing a similar expression of mixed pride and amusement "is, so there it is referring to where we or rather more specifically Robin 'our hero', lives. I'm assuming that 'but England must wait with tearful sighs' is just basically saying that although Robin and the rest of us live in Locksdale there is still a wait for us to be ready to help the people. I make that assumption mostly on what the next line says, which is 'for of the year of the two zeros eight, we shall not have to wait.' Basically it's saying that in the year 2008, now, Robin and the rest of us will be ready to help the poor and they won't have to wait anymore." Mark stopped and looked up at us, making sure that we were following.

"Right," I said to show that I understood, my brow was frowned in deep concentration and the others all seemed to be taking in what Mark said, it all made sense and I wondered why we had never thought to do this before. It probably would have been a smart thing to do.

At my encouragement Mark continued to explain the prophecy to us, he seemed quite the expert on the subject and I wondered how it was that he couldn't understand bits of the poem, and how on Earth we were going to figure it out if he couldn't. I kept my thoughts to myself and was full of interest and listening intently when Mark spoke again "this next bit is also pretty simple, it says 'In the glory of she he will return,

and on the sixth month this we shall learn.' Clearly that means that when Robin Hood 'returns' he is going to be a woman, 'in the glory of she', its basically just stating what we already know and giving a face to the person who is going to be Robin Hood. Actually, what with how it says 'and on the sixth month this we shall learn', which obviously means June which is the sixth month of the year and the month we started to help people, that this prophecy or poem or whatever you would call it is actually for someone else's reference and not just our own, I don't know who, it just seems that its original purpose was to tell someone else exactly what was going to happen and then they decided to show it to us to prompt us into action." Mark said, his cheeks pinkening a little as he said his theory aloud, I thought about it for a moment and decided that what Mark was saying was actually quite likely, that someone else heard this before we did, maybe even more than one person, it just seemed as though it was a prediction that had been made in the past and that by the point we heard it, it was already partly true. It also seemed the right format for it. Mark however shook his head and laughed in a way that made me think he was trying to shrug off embarrassment and mock his own ideas.

"Anyway," he said continuing in his explanation "next it says 'With thrice good men a saviour tries, To decipher the truth from the lies,' and to state the obvious this means that there will be three, or 'thrice', men that help Robin to achieve her goal. This prophecy is most likely referring to the point in time when it was first made, when just Robin, Will, John and I were in the gang, which is likely why neither Jack or George were mentioned in it," Mark looked up from his notebook then and looked at George sat at the head of the table and Jack stood behind him in the kitchenette "this is exactly the same as the dream you both had though?" he asked and George nodded.

"So far," he said, his blue eyes shinning with interested. Jack turned around and Mark's words and also nodded her affirmation.

"Word for word." She said, a bowl of mixture in her hands.

Mark nodded once to himself before looking at them both again and saying "that proves my point, the prophecy was talking about what was happening at the moment we received it, it was also instructing both of you on what had happened so far, which is why neither one of you were mentioned."

"So you think that they didn't get a mention because the prophecy was also supposed to tell them what was happening and when, as well as whoever heard this before we did?" I asked wanting to make sure I understood exactly what he meant, Mark nodded before saying,

"That's my theory anyway, we know that both of you are supposed to be here because when Robin met the old woman in the street she said that two more people were involved in this and that we had found Jack on our own and George had had to find his way to us. Right Robin?"

I nodded "she said that we'd found Jack on our own but George had to go about his job of helping people and us alone at first, because of who he was." I said and I watched George shift uncomfortably out of the corner of my eye, probably remembering how I had shouted abuse at him in the streets when we banged into the old woman. I felt a little ashamed at that but hey, he had lied to me and I'm not famous for being understanding.

"Yes, so that's why I think that neither of you are mentioned in the prophecy. Now, the next line, about trying to 'decipher truth from lies' again I think it just has a general meaning, I think it's about how we've got to figure out things and decide what's true and what's not. The next line most likely means the same thing as it says, 'Good from evil, un from just, This all he does because he must,' again I think its just a general term for all the jobs we do in figuring out Baxter's and Conner's plans, and when it says 'all he does because he must', I'm more than sure it means exactly what it says, we have to do this because its out destiny. Also when it says 'If not the dale it shall be lost, All this comes at too much a cost' again this is obvious, its just describing what will happen if we don't do this and the consequences of our failure." Mark said and I felt everyone stiffen uncomfortably at that, as we all pondered what would happen if we failed in this, of all the pain and suffering it would bring. Mark shook himself from his musings and carried on "the next stanza basically explains those consequences, 'No one shall live across the lock, No man no girl no live stock.' Its pretty much describing what will happen if this goes wrong and for some reason we are unable to do this." Mark said, his voice slipping back into that intellectual tone he had.

Will raised an eyebrow at Mark and said "are you sure you're struggling with this? Cause you seem to have a pretty good handle on it to me." I had to admit that he had a point; it seemed to me that Mark understood this prophecy just fine and I was starting to find it impossible to believe that he having difficulty with any section of it.

"That's because all of this is basic Will, all of what I explained to you has already happened, is happening or is obvious, it really wasn't hard to work all that out, it's the next bit that I'm struggling with." Mark said, his voice going a little bit hard with annoyance and exhaustion. Will looked at Mark for a moment in mild shock before nodding his understanding.

"Tell us the rest Mark," I urged, sensing that now was the time to intervene "tell us what else you have."

"That is pretty much it now," Mark admitted as he looked down at his notes, I followed his gaze to where his finger rested at the next stanza in the poem, there were even more annotations there, as well as lots of scribbling outs and hastily written ideas, clearly this was the bit that was confusing Mark. "There isn't much after this point that I've been able to figure out one hundred percent of what it means, I can get the basic gist of what it means but I've got a feeling that this last bit is the whole reason why these dreams keep pestering me. I can't shake the feeling that this is the important bit, but I can't seem to figure it out because it gets kind of cryptic and there isn't a lot that I can work with to connect the dots between what's happening now and what it says in the prophecy. It's mostly about what's going to happen in the future so its more about making assumptions than any of the others were." Mark heaved a tired sounding sigh before he carried on speaking "basically, this is what it says 'There is a price to be paid, after all he has saved, in Hoods darkest hour, an evil ruler loses power. The people reach a new height, but the end still not in sight, it is over so it may appear, but it is for Hood we fear. For in the sun, Is Hood's undone.'"

Mark finished and we all remained silent, waiting to hear what he was going to say, though everyone else was simply sitting there and waiting for Mark to carry on speaking my mind was working at a hundred miles an hour. It had been a while since I had even thought about, let alone heard, the prophecy and only now did it dawn on me how bad things were looking for me at the end there. all that talk of a 'price to be paid' and 'in Hoods darkest hour' and 'it is for Hood we fear', had me feeling pretty darn concerned.

"I think the basic idea is that there will be problems in the end, that once we achieve our goal there is still going to be problems out there for us and that the end of this is going to be particularly difficult for…" Mark looked at me then, green eyes slightly ashamed and worried, not to mention cautious "well for…"

"Me," I finished, going for an air of nonchalance but only pulling it off at a passive level.

"Well, yes," Mark said, looking a bit sheepish. I nodded and tried to ignore how everyone was looking at me now, clearly concerned.

"What does that mean then, all that at the end there about 'Hood's darkest hour' and 'in the sun is Hood's undone,'?" George asked the protective edge his voice had taken clearly audible, he was worried about the end of the prophecy and how it didn't exactly seem to spell a happily ever after for me. I smiled reassuringly at him, yeah I was slightly worried but it couldn't be that bad could it, I mean come on, it hadn't said that I was going to die or anything, just that things would be bad for me. George didn't seem soothed by my reassuring smile and if anything looked more worried and tense because I wasn't taking this as seriously as he was.

"I don't know," Mark admitted, clearly bothered and ashamed of this fact, I tightened my grip on him to let him know that it was okay but like George he didn't seem calmed "there really isn't any way to fully state what it means other than that things will be difficult at the end…I don't know I keep repeating myself but that's the only thought that will force its way to the forefront of my mind, that things will be hard in the end." Mark said before holding his head in his hands as though his head hurt and groaning.

"You need sleep," John observed and I couldn't help but agree with him, John was right, Mark was cracking from the exhaustion and he needed rest.

"No, I can't; I've got to figure this out." He said taking his head from his hands and pulling his notebook closer to himself "Other than that the only other feeling I get is about the last bit, 'in the sun is Hood's undone', something is telling me that I really need to figure this bit out, like its important, but…it just doesn't make sense. How can the sun be your undoing?"

"Yeah, you're not secretly a vampire or something are you Robin?" John asked grinning at me teasingly after throwing his friend a worried look; he was clearly trying to lighten the mood.

"Last time I checked she didn't melt in the sun, but then again you never can tell," Will said, joining in on the fun poking "oh can you just imagine Robin as a vampire!" Will said as though it was the most hilarious thing in the world.

"I've come to bleed you dry, both your walet and your blood, give to the poor or die!" George said, doing some sort of annoying cross accent between Count Dracula and a girl voice I was assuming was supposed to be me, that alone insulted me more than anything else did.

I shot them all a killer look, my gaze lingering on George longer than everyone else, he was my boyfriend, wasn't he supposed to fight my corner? He shrugged apologetically and I mentally high fived Jack when she said "if she really was a vampire do you think she'd really be hanging around here still? She'd have bled Baxter a long time ago and would be off partying with Edward Cullen, Stefan Salvatore and a whole host of fit Vamp guys by now." I was pretty sure that Jack (Like me really) read a lot of vampire fiction and let me tell you right now that I'm glad she did. George and Will's faces dropped instantly and they both turned to look at us, only John was left laughing but now he was laughing at them rather than us.

"You got that right," I said, beaming at Jack across the room, she had a very amused expression on her face.

"I didn't know you fancied that Edward Cullen guy," Will said, more to Jack than me, his voice sounding almost betrayed and hurt when he spoke, I couldn't stop the grin that split onto my face at that. Bless him.

Jack only shrugged and turned back to the bowl she had on the counter in the kitchenette, an obvious smile on her face. George was watching me, a slightly dumbfounded and concerned expression on his face, I looked at him and grinned, he frowned and said "I didn't know you liked him either."

Like Jack I shrugged but also said "You ought to know, but then again I only remind you on national pick on Robin day," I said with a slight edge to my tone and George got the message, looking apologetic as he looked at me. John meanwhile was still laughing "though vampire or not, you all know I could kick each and everyone of your arses." I said, only joking but John stopped laughing immediately and I couldn't help but laugh at that as well.

"Can we get back on topic guys," Mark asked sounding slightly annoyed that we could start joking and bickering over a potentially life threatening conversation "we need to figure the end of this out, what it means about Robin."

I turned to look at Mark then, seeing the worry there I felt the smile slip from my face "Mark, I appreciate your concern but I really don't think its anything life threatening, for me at least, you on the other hand it very well could be if you don't get some sleep soon." I said looking him in the eyes pointedly.

"Robin," George said, his voice going back to its protective and worried tone "how can you not be concerned by this? It's talking about your undoing." George insisted and I turned to him now, extending my hand across the corner of the meeting table so that I could grip his. Once my hand grasped his I stroked his hand with my thumb and said,

"It didn't say that I was going to die George, just that the sun was going to be my undone or whatever, that could mean anything you know, it could just mean that on the day when all of this comes to a close we need to resolve it at night rather than when the suns up." I said, trying to reassure him but Mark ruined whatever progress I had made in that when he said.

"I thought about that too but it doesn't sit well with me, I don't think that's really what it means and I get this vibe that the solution is something else, something obvious." Mark said, raising his hand to his head as though in pain again and looking troubled.

"Look, let's just try and think of some explanation for this so that Mark can sleep, I'm not overly worried by this so neither should any of you be." I said, noticing now how everyone was looking at me again with concern clear in their features. "Now, let's make a list of all the bits Mark doesn't understand and try and figure out what they mean."

The others murmured their agreement to my words grudgingly, clearly not liking how callous I was being about this but I saw no other way, it wasn't bothering me and it shouldn't bother them either. Mark turned the page in his notebook and hovered his pen over the page before writing 'England's dreams' as a bullet point.

"Okay, does anyone have an idea what England's dream could be?" I asked and everyone was thoughtful for a moment before Jack said,

"I think I agree with what Mark said, about it being how everyone else in the country is living or how life would be without Baxter." She said as she picked up the bowl that held her now complete mixture and headed over to the table before setting the bowl down and sitting on the remaining spare chair.

Mark wrote that down next to his bullet point before asking "any other ideas."

I thought for a moment, wondering about what England's dream could be, I pondered on weather or not it had any relation to the American Dream before dismissing it and deciding that not only was all of this closely related to a time long before that but also that it didn't really fit. Other than that and what Jack and Mark had said I really didn't have a clue what England's dream was.

"No," I said and the others all shook their heads.

"Not got the foggiest," John said and I smiled at him before turning back to Mark, sorry that we couldn't figure that out, he didn't look too upset though and I was guessing he was sticking to the idea that the last line was the important one.

Mark made another bullet point and wrote the last section out in a brief form, before looking up at the rest of us expectantly. "Any ideas about the end of the prophecy?" he asked and I watched as everyone frowned in concentration.

"Well, the bit that says 'In Hoods darkest hour, an evil ruler loses power' has to be talking about Baxter and us winning over him in someway, maybe even overall." Jack said sounding hopeful, I was glad of her optimism as the whole thing with the prophecy seemed to be bringing everyone down, especially Mark and George.

"I was thinking something like that, its not that specific but I think that you're right," Mark said with a smile of his own before writing down what Jack had said next to his bullet point.

"It's a shame it doesn't give us a date, or at least a month, when this is supposed to happen, like it did earlier." Will said and we all nodded our agreement, we weren't going to get too excited about the possibility of us beating Baxter, it could be a long way off in the future yet.

"Sure would make this easier, you know, knowing how long we've got left stuck with the miserable git." John said meaning Baxter as he lent back in his chairs, green scarf dangling around his neck.

The others nodded in agreement, well, everyone except George who was sitting at the head of the table his expression troubled and resting his chin on his hands as he contemplated something, I looked at him and felt my brow frown in worry until he spoke and I understood why he looked so bothered "what about the bit that says 'in Hood's darkest hour'?"

Everyone went silent then; they stopped contemplating how much easier it would be if the prophecy told us exactly when we would beat Baxter and an air of worry closed around them as their gazes flicked from George to me.

"I should imagine it means what it says on the tin," I said with a nonchalant shrug of my shoulders "that in my 'darkest hour' we will beat Baxter."

"I don't think you should take this so lightly Robin, I don't like it, I don't have a good feeling about it." George said, his tone just hitting that level of seriousness that made him sound super sexy.

"There's no point in worrying about it, not unless we can figure out exactly what means other than something bad is going to have to happen to me for us to win, anyway Mark said it didn't feel like it was important." I said and George's expression became even more solemn.

"Don't be so flippant about this Robin, Mark never said that it wasn't important, just that he felt that the last line was what we needed to figure out to stop these dreams, didn't you Mark?" George asked as he turned to Mark to back him up.

"Well, yes, I didn't mean that that bit wasn't important, just that 'in the sun is Hoods undone' was key, what I really needed to figure out." Mark said looking at us both with an unsure expression on his face, as though not wanting to get in the middle of our couples row.

"Well I'm not worried about it; like I said you lot shouldn't be either." I said, matching George's stubborn gaze with my own and raising a single eyebrow at him, why was he so worried, I said that it didn't bother me "now, I think we should keep trying with that 'in the sun is Hoods undone', since it's clearly the most important part."

"It doesn't bode well for you either Robin," George said as his gaze intensified "I think you should take heed of this prophecy, it doesn't seem something to be sniffed at."

"I'm not sniffing at it," I said, my voice raising a little and the others starting to look off in other directions as they got a little embarrassed by our argument, typical, I thought, they didn't have a real problem with walking in on me and George when we were doing something I enjoyed but they had no desire to brake up our lovers spat "I just don't think that it's anything I need to be worried about just right now, I'm not letting anything get in the way of helping the people of this town, prophesied death or not."

"You can't help people if you're dead or critically injured Robin, I wont let you shrug this off, I know what your like and you cant begin to understand what it put me through seeing you in the hospital like I did the other week, not knowing if you were going to live or die. Forgive me if I don't want you to go through that again and if I care about you enough that it would probably kill me to see it happen again." George said and whatever come back I had been planning froze on my lips. He was only doing this because he cared, I reminded myself as I watched his eyes glisten behind his hard expression, he may be acting over protective but he had his reasons. I could only imagine how I would react if George had been in a similar position to the one I had been in the other week, badly I was sure.

I opened my mouth to speak, to try and reassure him as I realised I hadn't been doing when I was insisting I didn't care about the prophecy's warnings, undoubtedly he thought that I was acting like I had when I had gotten ill the other month and fainted on the drop off. My words never left my mouth however as John suddenly said,

"Robin,"

His voice had a hint of urgency to it and everyone else turned in his direction, I held George's worried gaze for a fraction of a second longer, sending him an apologetic glance before turning to look in the direction the others were, George followed me a second or so after. I should have been a little more sensitive to him, I thought as I looked at John, see, I can admit when I'm wrong.

"What is it," I asked John, who was looking in the direction of the muted TV where the regional news was playing to its self.

"Look," John said before turning the volume back on, a female news reporter was on the screen, sitting in the studio and reading of the big news stories in the local area, a braking news banner stood out in bold red and black at the bottom of the screen.

"…at the offices of Baxter Industries in Locksdale today as the private office of Mr. Robert Baxter was broken into late last night. Security guards were alerted to the brake in when it became apparent that all of the buildings security cameras had been switched off, however by the time members of the B.A. and local police services had made it to the building the thieves had fled the scene. Officials called to the office early this morning stated that only a minimal amount of damage was inflicted upon the building during the brake in, however several valuables left in the office were stolen along with documents from the desk and money totalling at around £2000. At this point the police have yet to state who they believe committed the crime though the local rebel band of 'Robin Hood' and her outlaws are said to be under suspicion, Mr. Baxter was unavailable for comment at this morning as he is currently out of town on business, however a spokes person from Baxter Industries said that 'the style of the brake in was similar if not identical to the methods used by Hood'."

The room fell silent as John pushed the mute button once more and the grave looking newswoman continued to move her lips as she told the rest of the day's news, no sound escaping from her. No one spoke, I blinked and then turned to look at the others, slowing they all moved their heads to face me and I saw that their expressions matched my own shocked one. What? I thought simply, confusion taking hold of me as I tried to process what I had just heard, that didn't make sense, not in the slightest. I caught George's eye and saw that his bright blue eyes were wide with shock and a thoughtful expression was on his face as he clearly tried to figure something out. We hadn't broken in to the offices of the Baxter Industries last night, we hadn't been their in months actually, but still there had been a brake in and we were getting the blame for it. My mind was whirling at a hundred miles an hour and I watched as Mark frowned and Will and Jack shared a glance, something was going on here, something we didn't know about, someone else was had broken into Baxter office for whatever reason and made off with several precious objects. The big question wasn't just who they were, we would soon figure that out, I just wanted to know if they were friend or foe.

**Author note: and that's that, I hope that you enjoyed reading that, I enjoyed writing it as it was a nice change to Siren Song. Anyway, let me know what you think please, thank you so much for reading this and being patient with my dreams of finishing my NaNoWriMo story, I cant tell you how much I appreciate it. Oh and I'm sorry about the reference the vampires, can you tell I'm just a little bit excited about New Moon's release? Thanks again, I sure hope you like it and please, please review. :) x**


	6. Imposter issues

**Author note: Hello guys, I'm back, NaNoWriMo is over for another year and I have good news…I finished it! I'm so proud to have reached 50,000 words in such a short time space (though I find myself heavily behind with everything else right now) and couldn't be happier. I was thinking of publishing it on Fiction Press, what do you think, it's called siren song and would you check it out if I did? How about if anyone lets me know they're interested in reading it I'll send you a synopsis and you can see what you think? Anyway, back down to business, sorry this is a little later than I would have liked, and it's maybe not up to much since I'm still getting back into writing outside NaNoWriMo again, not so much action in this chapter but I can tell you that it's coming soon, I've been planning it all out and I like the way it looks so far. So here you are chapter six. Please enjoy.**

**Chapter six**

**Sherwood house**

Somewhere, buried not too deeply inside each outlaw, a switch was flicked and the office dropped into furious silence as everyone sat there with enraged expressions on their faces and hard eyes; someone had pretended to be us and broken into Baxter's office where they had stolen precious objects, obviously knowing full well that we would get the blame for their actions. Not one of us gave two hoots about Baxter being robed, why should we since we did it ourselves often enough? What wound me up so suddenly and with the force of a fire slowly building inside of me filled me with anger, was that these people, whoever they were, had the pure gall to pretend to be us. That and that the people of the Southside weren't going to be receiving whatever they had stolen because they had gotten to it before we had. Needless to say I wasn't happy and I wasn't about to take that lying down. My jaw was set and I was drumming my black polished nails (painted in spite of Jordans rules) on the wooden table angrily, I watched as the others continued to ponder what we had just seen, they looked about as happy as I felt.

"Who would do such a thing?" Jack asked suddenly with a disgusted tone to her voice. She was the first one to give in and speak, clearly too angry to take much more of this. I knew how she felt, I had was cracking myself, only right now I was turning my furious efforts to plotting, I would think of a way to expose these imposters and hopefully get some more money for the citizens of Locksdale while I was at it. That thought was the only thing that kept the passionate rage I'd become famous for at Locksdale and even more so now, at bay.

"I don't know," John said to Jack before meeting my gaze across the table and filling his voice with determination as he said "but we'll find out who is doing this." I nodded along with his words, my eyes hard as emeralds as I felt my mind tick over everything the news reporter had said. They knew our style well enough to use it themselves so they had to be someone who knew us well, I didn't like the direction that thought took me in because there were so few people we trusted with that kind of information and I didn't want to think that they were capable of betraying us. I had to consider it though, as much as I didn't want to.

I surprised myself by remembering to breathe evenly and count to ten in my head, the way my anger management councillor at Locksdale Upper had told me to do whenever I got really mad. My breath hissed out through my mouth as I focused on planning revenge and not blowing up the way I was prone to doing- see, I am getting better at this- so I found myself calming down relatively quickly. That was important because I really needed a level head to be useful in this situation. I had to come up with a plan and rally my troops, keep morale for being hit by this new injustice.

"What if this is another one of Baxter's plans?" Will asked suddenly, speaking with an edge to his voice as well, my gaze snapped towards him and I felt my stomach drop a little before the heat of the fire started to spread again and I got mad "what if he's doing this to make us look bad again?"

"You think that could be it?" I asked my voice tight, Will nodded sombrely and I turned to George, the same question on my lips, he didn't need me to speak it though.

"I was thinking it might be," George said with a nod, though his expression was contemplative "but at the same time I can't think he'd use that same scheme twice, especially after we exposed him the last time." I nodded stiffly and thought about that, it was definitely a possibility and it wouldn't surprise me if Baxter would do this to us again. Though George could be right, why would he try this plot again if it had already failed once?

"He might think we won't suspect it, that we'd write it off for exactly that reason." John suggested, his chocolate eyes melting a little down, John was probably one of the more calm outlaws despite his love of a good fight and a bit of action.

George shook his head as he continued to consider this "I don't think he works like that, with my father once something has failed him, it's failed him and that's it. He makes no difference weather or not it is a person or a plan, once it's failed him its usefulness has ended." George said, his voice hitting a dark, resentful pitch at the end there, all of us knew why, we all knew how heartless Baxter could be and how many innocents had died for 'failing' him. "I don't know why, I just don't think that he would do the same thing again, he would know we would be suspicious and besides, it seems different this time, even if its been just the one incident it isn't the same as how Baxter tried to turn everyone against us last time."

We nodded along with George's words, hearing the probability there and deciding that he was right; Will frowned and thought through George's words before saying "Yeah, I can understand that, but if it's different this time it could only mean that he's changing his ways to throw us of his scent." Will offered and George shrugged but didn't look convinced, he knew as well as I did that there was a good chance that Will was right and Baxter had changed his technique a little this time, but was still trying to make us outcasts, however I could tell that George still thought that that wasn't it.

"It's hard to tell at the moment, I think," Mark said getting that calculating look in his eye as he tried to figure out this fresh puzzle "let's wait and see what Baxter's reaction to the items and the money being stolen is first, that might tell us if he had a hand in this."

"He's a good actor though," Will insisted from across the table "and how much more is he, or whoever this is, going to do in our name until then? Sure it was only robbing Baxter this time, it's the sort of stuff we do every day, but what happens if they start to do bigger things, the sort of stuff we would never do?"

"Will's got a good point," I agreed feeling the rage rise up inside me again and push the words from my lips, I was determined not to just sit her and do nothing while whoever was behind all this did any more deeds in our name. But then I looked at George and saw the thoughtful look he wore and knew he was thinking something important and I opted to be rational for once "but we cant just assume this is Baxter's doing even if there is a good chance it is, we should rule out all other possibilities first." I said feeling my hard expression waver a little as I thought of what that meant, I really didn't want to do this but I honestly saw no other option. Jack caught the meaning behind my expression.

"Our friends?" Jack asked with a sad look on her face and I nodded my head, we couldn't trust Jess or Joe until we were sure that they weren't selling our secrets, they were the only ones who knew that sort of stuff about us. Jack mirrored my nod before looking down at the desk, she didn't like this but she knew we had no choice.

"I don't think that it's my father," George said a little suddenly, pulling an expression that told me he was deep in though and meeting my gaze with his sapphire blue eyes with such force that I believed him, he knew his father better than anyone and as much as George seemed to struggle with the idea that his father wasn't the villain at this point, he didn't believe he was behind this "he's out of town on business and it seemed pretty sudden when he left, I know it could be a ruse but I really don't think it is, he seemed so pleased when he heard that he was needed there, I didn't like the look her wore, so excited and eager, but I'm almost positive that expression wasn't about this, but rather something bigger and beyond all of this. I'm not sure how much comfort we can take from that though, the thought that my father is too busy with something bigger than this to put his usual effort into catching us. I don't know if anyone else has noticed but I'm sure that things have been getting more lax this past week, almost like my fathers attentions are turned elsewhere." George said with a troubled expression on his face, I agreed with it, like I had said earlier, whatever was going on with Baxter out of town definitely wasn't good and was definitely worth keeping an eye on. "He'll be back in a few days though and I'll be sure to keep my ears open when I go to see him."

The others and I nodded at George's words, "we'll have to keep our eyes peeled from now on," I told the others, my fear for us, my barely capped rage and my discomfort making my tone hard and my posture stiff "I honestly don't think that either Joe or Jess would give away our secrets but we need to be careful, until we know for sure that this isn't Baxter or them we treat them with caution and make sure we're on the look out for similar signs to what happened the last time Baxter tried to make us out casts." the others made noises of agreement and sat back in their chairs, contemplative expressions on their faces and discomfort radiating from them, they didn't like this any more than I did.

"What about the townsfolk?" John asked concern for the town's well-being written across his face "we were supposed to go to Jaxbrough tonight."

"We're still going, we'll take the money parcels we sorted yesterday and distribute them." I said, thinking of the plan for tonight I had drawn up earlier, I was determined not to let this stop us helping those in need and glad of the distraction, but John still looked troubled.

"But Robin, the fund's getting dangerously low, we need to do something to get more money, and fast, and I'm not just talking about a decorating job, I mean serious money." John said a worried expression on his face, I sighed and closed my eyes, big jobs had been a far few between and taking money from unsuspecting Haves was all fine and good but it wasn't going to feed the whole Southside. John was right; we needed to get our hands on some serious money. The others looked as bothered as John and I did; I hated it when things got tight for us because we couldn't give the people as much money as we'd like to because the most important thing was to make sure that everyone who needed it got some. This often meant that the amount we gave out dropped a bit when things got tight, but I supposed that the key thing was that everyone got SOMETHING. Still, I didn't like it when we didn't have much to give.

"What about the Beverly's? We haven't paid them a visit for a while, their security system is pretty lax so I doubt we'd have much trouble getting in there." Mark suggested with a look in my direction, his tried eyes heavy looking and his dark purple circles even more prominent at the prospect of another sleepless nightmare filled night as a consequence of us failing to figure out the prophecy. I knew how he felt.

"Mr. Beverly has upped the security system, Will did a scout the other week and spotted the delivery van bring it in, it's all very high tech and about the same level as the mansion." George said as he pulled the notes from Will's scouting trip across the table to him, I remembered hearing about that and listened as he carried on speaking "I know we've gotten in there before and we get in my fathers all the time but the Beverly's are struggling, Courtney's dad is another big land owner and he's not getting all his rents, besides that I overheard my father talking today before he left, he's taking a pretty large chunk of Beverly's profit's and I don't think that they have much to steal." George said sitting back in his chair at the head of the table.

"Well then," I said as I copied his motion, linked my fingers together and rested my elbows on the table in a very sinister fashion, I raised my eyebrows at George and smiled "we'll just have to visit the big shot and take a cut of our own." I said, refusing to let this thing with the imposters get to me or ruin our operation, I trusted everyone in this room with me right now and I knew they wouldn't let me down, so why should I let it stop us from doing our job? I knew that I could trust Joe and Jess as well, I just had to be cautious until we got to the bottom of this mess and asked them about it Tuesday night when they paid us a visit, I couldn't really corner them about it at college.

My friends' faces lit up around me at the prospective challenge, all of them eager to get away from his recent blow and get to doing what we did best. George grinned at me from down the table and I returned his sly smile and winked at him before turning back to face the others. "Any ideas?" I asked the enthusiastic bunch.

"Plenty," Mark said with a cunning smile "just tell me where we want to be and I'll see what I've got."

I gave Mark an appreciative look before turning back to George and asking "Have you heard anything this week, have any shipments or anything like that come into the mansion that we've missed?" I asked him, thinking it was unlikely that we had missed anything since between George going in there every other day and the rest of us had been staking out the mansion, very little went in or out of there without us knowing about it.

"What about his credit card?" Will asked cunningly his eyes glistening mischievously "I'd love for us to get hold of that, even if it was just for a day until he closed the account."

George grinned at his friend but shook his head "No, there's been no more shipments and I don't think we'd be able to steal his credit card, it would be too easy for him to trace our movements. I would love to see the look on his face though when he got the bill we would rack up and saw all the things we'd given to the poor," George said with a chuckle and a distant look, it was as though he was imagining it. I smiled. "However," George added and I rose my eyebrows at him "I think I've got something better than that."

"Pray tell?" I asked dramatically, George smiled before he answered.

"I've found out the location of my fathers safe," George said, everyone was silent for a moment as they contemplated this, surely Baxter's safe wouldn't be filled your bog standard life time savings total, the money in there would surly be most of the cash he earned from his underhand dealings, hush money and blackmail earnings. I would be willing to bet that it held quite an amount and consequently was not your average dial and combination safe. It would be difficult getting inside it, but hey, I relished the challenge and the distraction it would bring. A cunning smile turned the corners of my lips upwards as my mind got to work.

"How long have you known about it?" Jack asked as she nudged the bowl of sleeping draught closer to a shattered Mark who shook his head at her and immersed himself in our conversation and planning, not wanting to miss anything.

"I've always known about it," George admitted with a shrug, I looked at him, wondering why he had never said anything; naturally Will was the only one who could beat me to asking the question.

"You never said anything," Will stated "how come you're just telling us this now?" Will wasn't suspicious of George, he knew full well that he was one of us, however Will (like me) sometimes came across as demanding and seemed to be accusing someone when really he was only asking a question. Fortunately all of us were used to it and knew better.

"I didn't want to say anything until I knew exactly where it was." George explained "there was no point tempting you with all that money if there was no way of us getting to it."

"You know where it is now though?" I asked and George nodded.

"It's in my father's back office, the extravagant electric fireplace there is hollow and opens up like a door, the safe is behind there." George explained before looking a little guilty and saying "it won't be easy to get into it though; we'll have to go through the proper channels."

"Don't we just need a combination?" John asked but George shook his head.

"Unfortunately no, yes there's a six digit pin code to type in but we also need a key as well. I know my father though; he has a spare hidden away for everything that requires a key, I followed him today as he went to take some money from the safe for his journey, I moved his keys so that he couldn't find them and had to use the spare. He hides the spare key that isn't on his own key chain under the desk in a small hollowed out compartment." George said and I felt my heart swell with pride, I could hardly recognise him as the same boy who I'd known these past five years at Locksdale Upper, he's just as sneaky and mischievous as the rest of us now, not to mention I found George's sly side very attractive, I thought with a playful grin which of course George caught. He raised his eyebrows at me and I shrugged, still grinning. "I don't know the combination however." George admitted.

"It's six digits did you say?" Mark asked and George nodded, I watched as my smartest friend contemplated that, trying to figure out the likely combination.

"What about his birthday?" Jack suggested "isn't that what people usually use for combinations if they have nothing else to use?"

"Yeah, could be, good idea," Will agreed in a slightly creepish and eager manner, George and I grinned and John nudged him playfully in the elbow, all of us knowing full well why he was so quick to agree with Jack. Will had a fairly large crush on Jack, it was obvious to everyone who spent five minutes around them, the only people who didn't know about it were probably the pair themselves, and both denied it whenever we suggested that there were feelings between them. And they both thought that George and I were stupid for taking as long to get together as we had, jeeze, they really needed to look in the mirror. I thought as Will threw John a wide eyed look and blushed a little, I rolled my eyes and George shook his head, the only two who had no reaction to this were Mark and Jack, Mark because he was immersed in thought and Jack because she was blind to Will's feelings for her. Though she was always insightful when it came to other people's emotions, I noted as I fought the urge to roll my eyes again. "I pick my birthday whenever I need a combination." Will said with a pointed look at the rest of us, as though trying to emphasise his innocence and chastise us for thinking anything else.

"Good to know," John said before showing Will a wide toothy grin and pulling a sheet of paper and a pen towards him "when's your birthday again?" he asked still grinning. Will glared at John and the rest of us laughed, Jack only getting half the joke.

"Funny," Will grumbled sarcastically before turning to George, warning him not to crack a joke of his own with his eyes, before asking "when is your dads birthday?"

"May the ninth, nineteen sixty eight." George said innocently though he was still fighting back a snigger.

"Funny, I would have thought it was the sixth of the sixth two thousand and six," Will said and sniggers echoed around the room, mine had double purpose as I was sure that Will had only said that to take the spotlight from himself.

"No, that's my little brother's birthday," George said, his tone deathly serious and his face grave and completely unamused. The laughing stopped abruptly. The other four looked guilty but I only turned to George with my eyebrows raised, he met my sceptical gaze and his expression didn't change in the slightest.

"Really?" John asked with wide eyes as he looked from George to a thoroughly embarrassed Will. George nodded stiffly, his arms folded across his chest and Will looked up apologetically.

"Look, I'm sorry mate, I didn't mean to insult your brother like that, I was just messing around..." Will insisted until George's phoney sombre demeanour cracked and he grinned impishly, biting back laughter.

"I thought as much," I said with my eyebrows still raised and a smile in my voice, I was glad that we were all able to forget the nasty business of the imposters and carry on as we were before. We were stronger than they thought we were and if they thought that this was going to shake us they had another thing coming. "You've never mentioned a brother to me before."

"Sorry Will," George said apologetically as he chuckled and Will's jaw fell open in disbelief "I couldn't resist."

"Owned," John said, extending the word out in an exaggerated fashion as he laughed at Will.

"You have to admit that was pretty funny," Jack laughed as she nudged him "you're so gullible at times."

Will's expression changed abruptly (he had been glaring at John and George both for their comments) and he jumped on this opportunity to flirt, he grinned back at Jack before bumping his arm with hers playfully, "What are you taking about? You believed him as well, you were just as fooled as I was." He said, his eyes fixed intently upon Jack's as he spoke.

"I wasn't," Jack insisted with a laugh as she straightened herself up so she sat taller in her chair "I knew it was a joke all along."

"What?" Will asked, his voice coated in teasing disbelief "not a chance, you were fooled."

I was watching them both and grinning as John made throwing up motions behind their backs and Mark pulled kissy faces, momentarily freed from the spell of figuring something out, so I jumped quite a bit when George poked me. I turned to face his grinning face, even now blown away by how gorgeous he looked just sitting there and once again glad that he was finally mine.

"Remind you of anyone?" He asked with a dazzling grin and a glint in his deep blue eyes, I laughed and shook my head.

"I think that we bickered a bit more than that," I laughed and George nodded cheerfully.

"It was a bit more violent as well, I think," George added.

"No more apples, right?" I asked with a smirk, George laughed loudly.

"You two lovebirds finished?" Will asked impatiently from down the table, I turned to find the rest of them were watching us again, George was unfazed and so was I, I was in love and I knew now that that was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Only if you two are," I said with a grin, Will didn't appreciate that.

"So you don't think that it's his birthday, the combination I mean?" Jack asked trying to change the subject; I briefly pondered her reasons and grinned again, denial.

"It might be," George said with a shrug "it just seems a bit obvious to me, we can still try it though."

Jack nodded and I turned to Mark, noticing he was back to contemplating "you thought of something?" I asked him and Mark nodded.

"2,2,9,8,3,7." Mark recited suddenly with an almost robotic tone to his voice, no one spoke, we all just blinked and looked at Mark in wonder.

"It's true then," John said breaking the stunned silence first "you are a computer." Will snorted (forgiving John for his past comments) and Mark threw them both a dark look.

"How did you come up with that Mark?" I asked intrigued as to his reasoning and not sold on John's computer theory.

"Logic," Mark said with a pointed look in John and Will's direction, I guessed he was really tired since he didn't usually act like this, that or he really wasn't amused by John's comment. He turned back to look at me, his usual intelligent expression back in place as he said "I just thought about the letters they put on key pads sometimes, like on mobiles for texting, since Baxter is a six letter word I thought that he might have used it as his password. It's kind of obvious but at the same time it's not something everyone would think of. 2,2,9,8,3,7 is what you would have to type to spell Baxter in a text or on any other key pad." Mark explained and I nodded along with his words, liking his reasoning, it was as possible as anything else we had come up with so far. The others weren't laughing anymore and Jack was smiling at Mark kindly, I turned to George and saw the impressed look he wore there, everyone else seemed to agree that it was pretty likely.

"That's pretty darn smart Mark," I said my voice encouraging "I think we should start writing these possible combinations down so that we don't forget them." I said, Jack reacted the quickest and pulled at sheet of paper towards her from our messy, paper strewn meeting table and taking a pen from the pen mug nearest her. Jack then started to write down both Baxter's birthday and the numbers Mark had used to spell Baxter's name, I was actually kind of surprised he was able to do that without looking at a keypad or a mobile at all. But then again this was Mark; anything was possible with a brain like his.

Mark shrugged in a nonchalant way, like he didn't think it was that likely "it was just an idea had, it could be that or 7,6,2,3,7,8, Robert." Mark explained, his tone almost bored, I felt a chuckle escape my lips, all rage now completely under control and leashed for the time being.

"You got any other ideas in there Plato?" I asked with a grin, Mark blushed a little in pride before explaining a few of his other ideas, he thought that Baxter might have used another word as a password and suggested that they might be people or things that were important to him. George suggested that we put down his mum's birthday, saying that she was the only person Baxter had ever truly cared about, my heart tugged as I looked at the pained look in my boyfriends eyes, pain for the loss of his mum and the loveless ways of his father. I wanted to comfort George but knew that now wasn't the time, besides, I was sure George wouldn't want me to draw attention to his small show of emotion; no one else had noticed it. Resolving to cheer him up later I listened as George explained that his mothers name had been Teresa and so was a possible combination, wanting nothing more than to reach out and comfort him. Especially when Jack asked if George's name or birthday could be the combination, George had let out a humourless laugh and told her that he doubted that very highly, that his father cared very little for him.

In the end we gathered about six possible combinations, both Baxter and George's mums birthdates and names spelled with numbers, 0,6,0,6,0,6 to humour Will who thought Baxter might be into irony and the pin Baxter used on his home alarm system, the one that George had shut down for us many times over the past month. It wasn't a lot but it was all we had to go on, we would have to act fast if we wanted to make the most of Baxter's absence from the mansion and steal the money then. Once we agreed on the only six pin codes we could think of besides random numbers, which we would try a few of if all else failed, we set about planning the rest of the job. Only George and I would be infiltrating the mansion, it was a quick snatch and grab with a bit of sneaking before and after and having too many of us there would slow us down and make our chances of being caught greater, the sum of money we were after (George had confirmed) would be too much to risk loosing, we would go in alone. John would be waiting in the van so that we could make a speedy get away, Mark was to attempt to lead the unsuspecting security guard away from the guard house by insisting that he needed help with his (cough, Will's dads) car which had 'broken down' further down the road and out of sight, this would mean that George and I could slip inside the gate house and open the gates. If Mark couldn't get the guard to leave his post he would use his now perfected smoke screen to force the man out. Jack and Will would be patrolling the perimeter of the estate, close enough to help if anything got out of hand or if any other outside forces tried to get in while we were still inside, they would either stop them or warn us of a problem. We would be in radio contact at all times via Mark's head pieces, just in case. I had made good of my promise and hadn't complained about using them once since I had gotten back….err, woken up two weeks ago. Once inside George would deactivate the security system and we would sneak to Baxter's back office, there would be few if any squad members inside the mansion since Baxter was away, though they had been known to surprise us from time to time so we couldn't rule out their possible presence. Once in the office George and I would retrieve the spare key for the safe that was hidden behind the fireplace and try the various combinations, if all else failed then we would wing it with the combinations. If successful (and we were really, really hoping we would be) we would let the others know we were on our way out and then leg it back to the van where they would all be waiting and then we'd head off back to the office to count and distribute our spoils.

The plan was good, I liked the plan and was eager to get on with this, however, we all decided that it was best this plan was saved for tomorrow, as we planned the day had hurried along and before we knew what had hit us it was nightfall, we wouldn't have the time to do anything more than give out the money we had tonight. That was a large and important task in its self though, as the Jaxbrough area of the Southside was quite large and quite a costly place to live of late. Tidying away tomorrow's plans, as much as we could on the chaotic meeting table, we readied ourselves, changed into our outlaw 'uniforms' and picked up the money parcels, already divided up amongst us equally and stuffed into rucksacks, and grabbed our bows, more out of habit than actual need.

"Right then, lets go help the poor," Will said excitedly, all of us still loved the rush of adrenalin and excitement we got from going behind Baxters back and handing out money not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling we got from doing good.

"We can't say it like that," Mark commented with a grin "less we forget we're the poor as well."

"Yeah, but we never keep anything for ourselves. It will probably be real easy for Baxter to figure out who we all are once we've given all our money to the rest of the Southside; we'll be the only ones out on the street." Will said good-naturedly and without a single trace of resentment in his voice, he still loved his job.

"Let's hope it doesn't get to that stage," George said with a laugh, I chuckled and turned to lock the door to our actual office, Mark and Will were standing at the bottom of the stairs, not needing to worry about being overheard since it was already dark outside, Jacobs was at home, Adam hadn't come in today and the cameras didn't record sound. John and Jack were waiting in John's van which we were going to take to Jaxbrough and George was standing next to me by the office door upstairs. I turned to face him, his face still completely visible since his hood was down and none of us had put on our masks just yet, even in the low light of the office corridor I was once again struck by how perfect he was, had I honestly been that blind in school that I couldn't see what the other girls saw in him? Well, I suppose I was a little biased now actually, as absolutely gorgeous as George was I had fallen for him when I finally got to see his real personality, I had hated him when I had thought he was vain and shallow and all that. That was a good sign in my opinion even if my glasses were slightly rose tinted at the moment, only slightly.

Acting on impulse I pushed myself up onto my tiptoes and kissed George lightly on the lips, he looked a little dazed since he hadn't been expecting the show of affection, and Will and Mark groaned at the bottom of the stairs. "Come on," I said as I grabbed his hand and towed him down the stairs, he was grinning at me still as we reached the foot of the stairs. Will, Mark and George (now freed from my grip) headed out the door ahead of me, I followed them out and was pulling the door shut when I noticed a coat hanging on one of the pegs outside Jacobs's office, it had been there all day and only now did I realise that it was Adams. The realisation hit me suddenly and caused my brows to furrow as the furious fire licked around my chest again, my grip on the door handle tightened drastically as I remembered Adam's demand from this morning. I had made my decision, there was no way that I was going to go to Adam's house tonight, he was bluffing and had never actually said that he would tell Baxter about George if I didn't show. Come to think of it he'd have a hard time doing that if Baxter was out of town and hadn't given his newest crony a number to reach him by. I wasn't risking George by refusing Adam tonight, I told myself firmly, I was keeping my dignity and self respect intact besides, wouldn't it be wrong to go to Adam's house when I was seeing George? It would feel too much like cheating to me and that was something I would never do, I knew first hand how much that hurt, even if it didn't turn into anything like that (though knowing Adam as I do it would have, shudder) I would still feel like I was betraying George. No, I told myself sternly, this was where I drew the line, it was one thing washing Adam's socks and doing all his office work for him and that alone was degrading, it was another thing entirely to go to his house while I was with George and enter into his domain knowing I was duty bound to do whatever he said. Adam was all talk and no action, there was no way he was capable of actually telling Baxter about George, I was an idiot to let things get even this far. I couldn't shake the worried feeling though as I locked the front door of Sherwood, I couldn't help to worry that maybe Adam was capable of more than I thought he was. I had made my decision though, and I was sticking to it. I lent into George as he suddenly and tenderly wrapped his arms around my waist, sighing into my hair and resting his chin on my shoulder. It felt so nice to be so close to him, even if it was only for a few moments, my thought track had been starting to bother me and the anger building in my chest had vanished, something only George could inspire, of course, he could also cause me to get furious as well, I thought with a smile as I remembered all our past rows.

"Penny for them," George murmured softly as he pulled my back against my chest. I swear to God, I honestly considered telling him everything then, I wanted to tell him about Adam and the blackmail and what Adam wanted of me tonight, I wanted to come clean and tell him everything, but I didn't. I just couldn't tell him, because I was scared (yes, I was scared!), scared of what he would think of me for lying to him and allowing Adam into my room when for the past few weeks George was only sleeping in the next room. I was scared of what he would do when he found out, scared that he would go after Adam, not that the rat didn't deserve it but because I was afraid he would get hurt or into trouble because of it. There was no need to tell him anyway, I assured myself, I was sorting it now wasn't I? I had finally come to my senses and realised that there was absolutely no way that Adam would have the gall to go to Baxter about this, he just didn't have it in him, false blackmail on the other hand was perfectly within Adam's capabilities and to be expected from him. I wasn't going to Adam's and Adam was never getting into mine again so there was nothing to be bothered about. I still wanted to tell him though. Despite all my self assurances I was opening my mouth to come clean and tell him everything when the horn of John's van sounded out.

George and I both jumped about a mile, George however started to laugh and pulled away from me to look at the van, where John was pulling a face like he was whistling and looking all innocent. "Okay, we get it, were coming." George said still laughing as he gently took my hand and smiled lovingly down at me, my answering smile was half hearted. How could I tell him? I'd missed my chance and now I had no desire to tell him, selfish fear taking over me, I only felt guilty as George and I walked to the van where the others waited and set off towards Jaxbrough.

**Author note: So, prey tell, what do you think to this? I'd love to hear that and what you reckon to me publishing Siren song on Fiction Press? Much love goes out for reading this and even more for reviewing, they make me smile :) x**


	7. Worries

**Author note: Hi, sorry this is a little later than it should have been, this chapter, for no apparent reason that I can see, tripped me up quite a bit and took a bit of doing, though I doubt that the effort is noticeable. So here it is nothing major but still necessary I think. Please enjoy. :)**

**Chapter seven**

**Hudson Farm**

I gasped loudly as I sprang up in bed, my breathing heavy and the shocked sensation the dream had given me lingering. My chest rose and fell as I fought back uncharacteristic hysterics and tried to push what I had just seen from my mind, unfortunately that wasn't as easy as it sounded. Sighing I rested my elbow on my knee and then rested my forehead against the palm of my hand, trying to calm down. I hadn't screamed tonight at least, I thought as I pulled my damp hair from my face and tried to make my breathing even again, but that hadn't meant that the dream had terrified me any less. I'd suffered the same dream as last night and the night before that, and every night since waking up in hospital again tonight and once again I wasn't surprised. Every second of the dream had been exactly the same as all the others; it had ended the same way too, I shuddered violently in a way that had nothing to do with the cold sweat that covered my body. More out of habit than anything else I glanced at my clock, which unsurprisingly read just gone quarter past five in the morning; looking away from the clock I felt my eyebrows furrow and my irritation rise. What was happening here, why did I wake up at the same time every night, from the same dream, which may or may not have happened already? Anger filled me and I welcomed it with open arms, preferring it to the sorrow that would take its place if I didn't, I wanted to be angry because then I couldn't be scared or worried, if I was angry at whoever was doing this to me then I didn't have to think about what the dream meant. It wasn't like me to run away from things, I liked to think that I was a fairly strong person and could meet most things head on. But the thought of someone hurting George like that, I shuddered again, was a thought that my mind couldn't comprehend, it was an unbearable thought. I knew that I should probably tell the others about this, like Mark had done, but I just couldn't, as soon as the thought crossed my mind I got the same weird feeling that I wasn't supposed to tell them, that this was my secret and my burden to bare. That this was how it was supposed to happen. Besides, I didn't want to hear what they would say it meant, I knew that it wouldn't look good for George, he could worry all he wanted about what the prophecy said about my safety, but as far as I was concerned he was the one who needed worrying about. Besides if I told them about why I was so sure of what this dream meant and where I thought I had seen this all before, in the past, they'd think I was crazy. Well that was it then, I told my self, eyes going wide as the solution dawned on me suddenly, I had to protect George, I had to be my job to keep him safe and away from Adam and the snivelling little man who always got to George in my nightmares. That had to be it, that had to be why I was getting these dreams, I told myself, well, that was simple, I thought as I pulled a contemplative face, maybe I didn't need to tell the others after all.

My gaze flicked to the wall that separated my room from the one George was staying in, even though determination and purpose coursed through me right now I felt unsure and worried as I eyed the cream coloured wall. the urge to be near George right now was overwhelming, if it wasn't for the fact that the rest of my family were a sleep in the house as well I would be in there right now, I knew well enough by now that only George's presence had the power to calm me properly. I longed to be near him but knew that if I went in there in this strange state George would want to know what was wrong, he could sense even the slightest change in me and with the dream still raw in my mind I wasn't sure that I could resist telling him about it. I balled my left fist, the one that wasn't supporting my cheek, and stared at the wall, I would stay here, there was no way that I was going to tell George about my dreams, he didn't need that on his mind right now and besides, George probably wouldn't take it seriously and would turn it around so that I was the one who needed protecting, he'd tell me not to bother worrying about me and that it was just a dream that didn't mean anything. Though I'd be willing to bet he wouldn't say that if we were talking about Mark's dreams about the prophecy. I sighed, no, I wasn't going to tell George about my dream, I just had to keep him away from Adam at all costs and then even if my dreams amounted to nothing I'd still be sure that he was safe. I pulled my wistful gaze away from the wall and frowned down at my bed covers, gawd I wanted to be near him right now. Despite the conclusion I reached the uncomfortable feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach wouldn't let up and so I told myself I was being stupid, lay back down in my bed, and thought about last night, my nightmares, however distressing, weren't the immediate problem, our money shortage was.

The drop off had gone smoothly, every house in Jaxbrough (the ones on our needy list) had received their money parcels and the whole evening went off without a hitch. No one spotted us, no squad members cornered us in the darkened streets and we finished up posting the parcels quickly. It was as I was posting the last of my parcels into the last letter box on the street that I realised just how skint we really were, we had exhausted our funds dividing all of them up for this one trip and still the parcels weren't as thick as I would have liked them to be. I was glad that we had resolved to brake into Baxter's tomorrow night, things were going to get pretty bad around here if we didn't, every day more and more people contacted us to slyly put their names on our lists, the potential danger at being associated with us, should we be found out, was nothing to them now, things were getting that bad. Pleased that we could do this much for now at least and eager for tomorrow night to get here that much sooner we had all pushed aside all thoughts of failure to acquire the money and the worry about what would happen if all of the towns money problems got too much for us to handle, we had headed back home for the night, agreeing to meet up in the afternoon to prepare for our job. Reluctantly an exhausted had Mark headed back home, with a bottle of Jack's grandma's remedy in his hand, I had sympathised with my tired friend; I knew exactly how he felt. Although we had gotten off earlier than we usually did, by the time George and I gotten back home I was spent, not even stopping to ponder if my parents and Joey were still in the house I had kissed George goodnight and climbed into bed, shattered. I guessed that my nightmares must have been finally catching up with me, before my head hit the pillow and I went out like a light. And then I had dreamt.

Shaking off that train of thought I rolled over in bed so that I was facing the wall and my closed window. Desperate to get away from the worry that we soon wouldn't have enough to give to everyone who needed it and my fears for George's safety I latched onto another, slightly more positive thought. Adam hadn't shown up. The thought brought a triumphant grin to my face, I hadn't gone to Adam's house as requested and had thought for sure that he would come and pester me about it tonight, that was why I had closed my window before going to bed, so that he couldn't get in. I hadn't heard him tapping on the window though and a quick look at my mobile revealed no texts or missed calls from him, if I hadn't heard anything from him by tomorrow (I assumed that he would call to gloat or threaten me with Baxter again or at least tell me he was going to tell on George) then I had bested him. My smiled widened, that thought filling me with sweet satisfaction. I loved it when I bet Adam. In addition to that if Adam wasn't around here any more and I wasn't under his blackmail then George wouldn't be in danger of finding out about Adam's threats, and therefore wouldn't go after him angrily like he would naturally do and wouldn't end up in the same position he had been in, in my dream. That thought alone would help me sleep better at night. And so, with that in mind I stifled a yawn with my hand, and felt my eyes droop, my almost sleepless nights were starting to catch up with me and before I knew it I had fallen back into another fitful sleep, this times my dreams full of flashing images that centred around George, Adam and the vile guy who threatened to take George away from me. I woke with a jolt, the kind you get from falling over in a dream though I couldn't remember that happening in the one I was having, though I'm sure you can guess what happened instead. I shuddered and pulled myself up from the pillow tiredly, squinting as the bright morning sunlight streaming in through a gap in my curtains hit my eyes. I worked on evening out my breathing and tried not to sink into the miserable mood that threatened to consume me in the wake of my dreams, and then sat up in bed, ran my hand through my knotted hair and glanced at my clock, it told me that it was nine o'clock. I groaned, no wonder I was tired, I'd not had one hour of untroubled sleep all night, I couldn't stay in bed any longer though and promptly threw back my bed covers climbed out of bed. At least I didn't have work today, I thought as I crossed the room, ran a brush through the rats nest my hair had turned into thanks to my fitful nights sleep and dressed myself in a pair of dark blue jeans, a white tank top and a blue and purple unfastened chequered shirt. After washing my face, brushing my teeth and applying a bit of make-up I headed downstairs.

Having failed miserably at reining in my dejected mood I trudged down the stairs not even bothering to conceal my down expression, I was free to worry about George and our money problems all I wanted right now, he'd probably be on the farm helping my dad so I wouldn't have to worry about him seeing. Walking past the kitchen with no real desire to eat anything I headed for the living room instead, pausing when I spotted the back of a blond head sitting on the sofa facing the opposite direction. George. Setting my expression on neutral I felt all my previous worries disappear momentarily so that I didn't even have to work at concealing them from George, his mere being here chased them away. Feeling a wide smile grow large across my face I walked around the sofa to where George sat, wanting just to be beside him again, I wasn't walking especially quietly but George seemed not to hear me approach.

"Hi," I said as I sat down beside him, grinning still. George jumped visibly at the sound of my voice, his contemplative expression flicking to shock before it settled back down again, that concerned me a little since George's hearing was second to none even amongst the other outlaws with our heightened senses, if he was so deep in thought that even he couldn't hear me approach I knew it must have been pretty important. George smiled at me but it was weak, the ghost of his worried face still there behind it. It seemed that I wasn't the only one, who had been lost in thought today and that George didn't like whatever he had been thinking about anymore than I did.

"Hi," George replied his voice a soft and slightly sad sound, his smile exactly the same. I frowned; George ought never to look so troubled. George caught my expression and he laughed a genuine laugh this time and wrapped an arm around me so that he could pull me close.

"What's wrong?" I asked him as I lent against his side but turned so that I was looking him right in the face, meaning I would see any emotion that crossed his face, his expression was more jovial and controlled now though and showed nothing more or less than affection.

"Nothing," George said before catching my doubtful expression and adding "I was just thinking."

"What about?" I asked seemingly nonchalantly but I felt anything but, I was not about to drop this just yet, the expression George had been wearing was such that I just couldn't let myself.

"You wouldn't like it," George said, half laughing at his own words but his eyes intense as they looked at me and I didn't doubt a word he had said, I knew I wouldn't like whatever he had been thinking about, I sort of had an idea about what it would be.

"I'm intrigued now," I said as I reached across him to entwine my fingers with his left hand, the one that wasn't wrapped around my waist "tell me."

George sighed, a big exaggerated movement that caused his toned chest to rise and fall distractingly, I wouldn't let it distract me though, I continued to watch him as he stared ahead, trying to decide if he should tell me or not.

"I won't get mad, I promise," I said, knowing that was what he was probably worried about and gently tracing circles on his hand with my finger.

George smiled down at me and hugged me closer "I can handle your fury by now I think," he said his voice filled with an adorable cocky sound to it that had me smiling.

"You do, do you?" I asked with a laugh, but I was still watching his expression worried though, he still loved cheerful and happy enough so I couldn't say anything.

"I do, it's more of a turn on than a worry of mine actually," George said with a grin, I felt my eyes go wide and a huge grin spread across my face as I bumped my shoulder into him, he let out an oft sound but continued to smile like he was "I just know that you wont like what I'm thinking about." He said, his voice sobering up now and causing me to look up at him again, I just managed to catch the pained and worried expression he wore on his face before he shook it off and smiled down at me.

"I still want to know," I said and he nodded looking ever so slightly grim, what else had he expected? He knew me well enough by now.

"I was thinking about what was said yesterday, about the prophecy," he clarified looking across at the wall again, not wanting to look me in the eye right now.

"Your worried," I said, it was more of a statement than a question but George still turned to me sharply and said,

"Of course I am, not one word of it spelled good things for you Robin, I cant not worry when a prophecy that has been one hundred percent right so far practically says that you're going to die!" he said angrily, trailing off at the end there as though the topic was just too much for him, that he would explode with rage if he carried on.

"I don't think it quite said that," I said working on keeping calm and keeping my promise by not getting mad, only George could inspire me to do that "and you don't need to worry about me, I'm going to be fine, I can look after myself."

George looked at me then, that strangely passionate intensity in his eyes as he got angry, I thought that maybe he spent too much time with me and that my bad habits were starting to rub off on him "I don't doubt that you can look after yourself Robin, but that wont stop me from trying to keep you safe and worrying when something is trying to take you from me. I don't think that you understand Robin, you are my whole world, you are the only person I have in this world to care about, the only one who doesn't view me as a disappointment, or want to climb the social ladder on the back of who my father is, or who hasn't died and left me here. I love you Robin, and I think that that means I'm allowed to worry about you." He said his voice strong and powerful, not to mention defiant but also pleading at the same time, he gripped my hand a little tighter in his deep blue eyes bored into me with a dazzling intensity.

I returned his grip before raising my free hand tenderly to his cheek and leaning in swiftly to kiss him, pouring all the love I had for him out of my heart and into that kiss, I wasn't as good with words as he was and I doubted I could do my feelings justice if I tried to speak them. With me actions spoke louder than words. My heart was pounding madly in my chest as his words resounded in my head, I couldn't help but feel sorry that me and the other outlaws were all that George had, but there was a part of me that rejoiced the fact he loved me that much, that he could give all of his heart to me like that. George returned my kiss with as much vigour as I gave it, pulling me towards him eagerly, my knees were digging into the sofa and my chest was pressed against his as his arms snaked around my waist and my own hands slipped under his shirt and roamed along his broad back. I supposed I couldn't blame George for being worried, I didn't like it like he said I wouldn't, but I could understand it because it was how I felt about him every single morning. "I'm sorry," I said in-between kisses and as he gently twisted his fingers into my hair with one hand and pulled me closer with the other "I just don't like you worrying," I told him, emphasising my words with a deep kiss.

"I know," George replied, looking into my eyes with so much love that I thought my heart might burst as we pulled apart for moment; he then softly stroked my jaw line with his thumb before leaning in to kiss me again. I welcomed his kisses, we didn't spend enough time alone together in my opinion, what with one thing and another, and I adored kissing George like this, it was so easy to forget about everything and pretend we were just like every other teenage couple, enjoying the high of first love, to pretend that Baxter and the outside world didn't exist. It did though, I thought and felt myself frown, unfortunately the rest of the world was still there and there was more to everything that just this one kiss. I can't tell you how hard it was to believe that though, when George was kissing me like that. So as I surrendered to George and his kisses I pushed every other single thought from my head, that was until one thought crossed my mind and stuck there. My family.

I froze against George's lips, he did the same a split second later, tentatively he pulled away from me his blue eyes careful and his expression worried as he looked down at my face, I wondered what he saw there as his expression seemed to grow even more sorrowful. I'd noticed this happen a few times before, if I was vain I might think that he half expected me to turn around having decided I'd made a massive mistake in being with him and I was about to leave him, if I was narcissistic I might believe that was what it was.

"What's wrong?" George asked cautiously, I blinked up at him before flushing pink and saying,

"My family, I don't think they'd be so agreeable about you staying here if they saw us acting like that." I said and to say that George looked relieved would be a massive understatement, I felt a new surge of hate towards Baxter or whoever had lowered George's self esteem to this point, how could he think I would leave him, did he not own a mirror or know just what an amazing person he really was?

George laughed and pulled me into an unexpected hug, I could hear his laugh rumble in his chest as my cheek rested against it, he then kissed me atop my head before releasing me and saying "everyone is out, we have the house all to our selves for an hour or so, then I've got to go and help on the farm for a bit. Joey agreed to help out for a while so that I could spend some time with you, not that he told your dad that, he's going to meet his girlfriend soon though and then I've said I'll help out on the farm then. Your mum is up at Will's so that she can visit Carrie and Alice, and your grandparents have gone to the Sunday market in town for a few hours. We're all alone." He said as we sat back down on the sofa properly, I grinned at him.

"I could help out on the farm as well," I said as I grabbed hold of his hand "keep you and Dad company, besides, that way you'll finish up quicker and we'll be on time to meet the others at Sherwood."

"Sounds good to me," George said as he squeezed my hand "oh yeah, we need to be back from Sherwood for a few hours before we go to the mansion, your mum has rescheduled that dinner we were supposed to have with Alice to tonight since we weren't here yesterday."

I closed my eyes and let out a noise of guilt and humiliation, "crap," I said as shame washed over me "I completely forgot about that, how could I forget?"

"Hey, don't worry about it, I told her how sorry we both were when she reminded me this morning, she understands you know, she knows how busy we are." George said, trying to reassure me.

"Doesn't make it right though does it?" I asked, feeling angry at myself and ashamed that I could forget the dinner with my own sister, the sister who was living with her friend so that George could stay here with me. No one felt any resentment towards him for that, least of all Alice since she got to spend more time with Wendy, though I knew George still felt guilty for 'forcing', as he put it, Alice from her home. He stuck firmly by this belief as well no matter how many times my family and I told him it didn't mater, and regardless of how often Will assured him that Alice was more than happy staying with Wendy, sometimes he could be so stubborn. Some sister I was though to forget the dinner.

"Maybe not," George said as he raised his free hand to my cheek and gently caressed it with his thumb "but everyone understands and you obviously feel guilty about it, it's not like you were careless or just couldn't be bothered to go, you were busy doing important things, more so than anyone can imagine, and you genuinely forgot."

"Yeah," I said still frowning and more than a little annoyed with myself "I'll come back early tonight if that's okay with the rest of you, so that I can give mum a hand with dinner and see Wendy for a bit." I resolved, feeling a bit better.

George grinned as he watched the expression on my face shift to consideration and peace "I don't mind, since I'm coming back here with you." he said as he lowered his hand from my cheek but made no move to let got of my other one, still held tightly in his own "I'm actually looking forward to what other embarrassing stories your charming little sister has to tell me about you." George said, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"No," I groaned, ergh, how could I forget that my brat of a sister took every opportunity to wind me up, and I had actually felt guilty for missing her dinner, I should have been grateful and be bowing out of this one right now, I wasn't though "hasn't she told you them all already?" I complained angrily, well aware that Alice had pretty much monopolised George whenever he came to visit before, telling him my most shameful and humiliating moments much to his amusement.

"I don't know, has she?" George asked that infuriatingly gorgeous grin on his face once more.

I thought about that, my eyes going wide when I remembered all the stories my sister had yet to tell him, quickly I rearranged my expression into a neutral one and said nothing, ignoring George's question completely.

"That's not them all is it?" George asked, grinning still and amusement clear in his voice "she's still got some more to tell me and you know it." George laughed and squeezed my hand, annoyed I swung out with my free hand and slapped him on the chest, not so gently.

"Shut up," I grumbled sulkily as I imagined the horrors Alice would have in store for me in the form of story time, reading my expression George only smiled at me before raising our interlocked hands to his lips and softly kissing my knuckle.

We carried on like that for the next hour, content in each others company we kissed, bickered and watched telly, when Joey came in to announce the end of his shift on the farm George and I headed for the hall cupboard and stepped into dirty green overalls and muddy wellies so that we could take over. I wasn't the most useful person to have helping on a farm given my build, but I had lived here all my life and had helped my father and grandfather in the fields more times than I could count, my dad still didn't like me getting in the way of the large cows when he was herding them but had no issues with me helping out with other things, such as feeding, mucking out (unfortunately) and care of the still young claves. I would have felt patronised by the simpler, though still difficult, jobs had I not known it was for a good reason. After a few hours of this we went back to the house for dinner, Grandma and Granddad were back from the market with a few carrier bags of random bits and bobs, such as wool for my Grandma and a box of fudge for my Granddad. Together the five of us sat down at the kitchen table and ate sandwiches and drank tea until it was time for George and I to head to Sherwood, Granddad was going to help out on the farm now that some of the larger jobs were done. Pausing only to get a quick wash, despite to overalls and wellies farm work was still pretty messy, and to remove the stink of mud and animals from us George and I headed up the lane to the bus stop and caught the bus to Sherwood. The others were already there by the time we arrived and quickly got on with what was left of the planning (which wasn't much since we'd finished most of it yesterday) went over what we were going to do (this was things like who would be stationed where, what each of us would do in case of an emergency and generally just going over the plan) and also preparing everything we would need, like our bows and communication head pieces. This only took a few hours and it was three o'clock by the time we were set to leave, readying now to meet up again at eight to head off to the mansion. I said goodbye to the others and see you later to Will, who told me and George that he and his family had been invited over for dinner as well when my mum went to visit them earlier. George and I then went back home, went our separate ways to go and change into something appropriate for the occasion, I then went to help my mum in the kitchen and tried to ignore the fact that my sister was about to arrive and descend upon George with my most humiliating stories. I'd have to come up with a way to shut her up, I decided as I set the table and waited for the others to arrive.

**Author note: and there it was, chapter seven, I'm sorry that the end is a bit summery-ish, I just really wanted to post this before I go to my dads tonight and didn't really want to ramble on aimlessly about the details of Robin and George's day anyway. Thanks for reading and an even bigger thanks if you decide to review. Also, I'd like to shamelessly advertise my other work here, I've got two new stories, one that's been up for about a week on Fiction Press and is my NaNoWriMo story entitled 'Siren Song' and the other is a Harry Potter fic called 'Seeing', check them out if you fancy reading either one, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks again for reading, much love. :) x**


	8. Deja vue

**Author note: Hey, this took a little longer to get done than I would have liked, but I'm glad that it's finally finished because I enjoyed writing it and I can't wait to know what you think about it, I think it shows things progressing a bit more. A huge, massive and well deserved thank you to the amazing dares to dream my best (and only) reviewer, who is the reason this story is still on here, much love to you for that! Hope everyone (again most likely my only reviewer) had a nice Christmas. Please enjoy :)**

**Chapter eight**

**Outside the Baxter mansion**

The five of us sat in silence as we waited for Will to return from scanning the surrounding area and hiding Mark's little microscopic video cameras around the outer wall of the Baxter mansion. Each and every one of us knew how important this job was, we were almost completely skint, a situation which would spell disaster for the whole of the Southside should we allow it to happen. Not one of us wanted to fail in this; the consequences were too painful to even think about, though we did think about them, often. But that said, at the same time I knew that each one of us was filled with single minded determination and I knew, I knew that not one of us would give up until we had made it safely in and out of the mansion and we had that money securely in our hands. We were parked across the road and down the street from the guard house that stood at the foot of the extensive road that lead to the mansion its self. We had been here for a little over fifteen minutes when Will crept back into sight, dressed like the rest of us from head to toe in black and almost invisible against the backdrop of the night, having made one lap of the grounds perimeter and hiding the cameras at irregular intervals along the way. Mark was going to use them to keep an eye out for unexpected visitors via a link to his laptop; it was a precaution we were going to take just in case our impostors or whoever knew so much about us to tell them, showed up, bringing with them the B.A if we were truly unfortunate. Jess and Joe didn't know about tonight (as much as the others and I did trust them, especially John who still nursed a crush on Jess) so we weren't really expecting any company and Will and Jack would be patrolling the outer walls just in case so we ought to be fine, but Mark insisted on being cautious and no one objected, we really didn't need anything going wrong now.

Will nodded, it was only a slight gesture, anyone who might have been watching would have thought nothing of it, it was clearly defined though and we all acted instantly. Will stood where he was, sinking into the shadows once more to avoid detection. Jack shot the rest of us a confident grin before pulling up her hood and covering her dark hair for view, "see you all in a bit," she said before she opened the passenger side door where she was sat and slipped out of the van before heading off towards Will, keeping out of sight as best she could.

"Let's get this show on the road then," John said as he grinned at us, trying to relieve us of the mild tension we all felt and glad that we were getting a move on towards getting some more money. Despite our untied worry we were all buzzing with that familiar sense of joy and adrenalin we all got whenever we went on a mission like this. He then turned the keys in the ignition and his work van purred to life, George, Mark and I sat in the back of the van braced ourselves for the movement, George grabbed my hand as he slid a little on the floor and I laughed at him, Mark gripped his equipment tightly as John span the van around and headed back down the street. As he turned I could just see Jack and Will disappearing into the shadows cast by the mansions stone perimeter wall, about to split up and head off in different directions before patrolling the edges.

As John turned right at the end of the road and headed away from the mansion, this was one of our security measures we were going to drive away from the mansion so that the van wasn't seen loitering around the front of the estate, John was going to park on a back road that ran along side the woods that were located near the west wall of the mansion, meaning we could head in that way. We still had to make our way to the front gate since there was no other way to get in without triggering the alarms, but at least then we wouldn't be seen coming. Anyway, we were putting that part of the plan into action just as the video links from the cameras Will had hidden came up on Mark's laptop screen, the three of us sat in the back could see Will passing the view of camera one and Jack passing camera nine of ten.

"They're on their first patrol round now," Mark told John in the front, who started to speed up, just as my technical friend slipped on a set of headphones (the kind that while in the past, or unconscious or whatever had happened to me then, I had sworn never to complain about again.) and started tapping away at the keys of his laptop "the camera's work," he told Will and Jack.

I turned to George and played with his hand, which I still held as I asked "how much further now, John?"

"We'll be there in about two minutes, max," he said before adding the end bit on as he accelerated more, I could see the dark outlines of trees passing by through the windows and knew that we had taken to the almost deserted woodland roads.

"Thanks," I said as I gripped onto a handle John had installed in the back of the van to keep myself from sliding down the van and gathered up my bow, quiver and an empty rucksack for the money. Beside be George did the same and we were ready just as John's van lurched to an abrupt stop. Mark's equipment slid about some more and he muttered something about how John was had only recently passed his drivers test and Mark wondered how he's managed with such violent driving, John only grinned and rolled his eyes at Mark's complaints.

"Ready?" George asked me as he put in his ear piece and looked at me questioningly, blue eyes shining behind his mask.

"Yep, all set," I said as I pulled down my own mask and attached my ear piece, about to whinge about how uncomfortable it was but remembering my promise and keeping my mouth shut, damn that promise I thought a little sulkily.

"Remember to let us know once you reach the gates, and to let us know if anything goes wrong along the way." Mark reminded us, even though it was hardly necessary as we had gone through the plan half to death before coming out here.

"Ay, and to let us know when you're done, these woods give me the creeps and I want to know when I can get the heck out of here." John added with a shiver, George, Mark and I smirked at him, finding John's fear of the woods funny because of his size and strength, the very idea of John being frightened of anything was hilarious.

"Will do," I said as George and I shuffled past Mark and his equipment so that we could open the back of the van, I turned back to John just as George threw open the doors and jumped out "I'll keep an eye out for the boggy man for ya, John," I teased, Mark and George laughed quietly and John grinned good naturedly, able to take a joke, before adding,

"Hilarious, Robin," in a bored tone though his jovial expression gave him away "you do that."

I smiled at them both and watched as John's expression became a little more worried as he looked out into the pitch blackness and wondered what could be hidden deep within it. My grin widened and I turned to face the open doors outside of which, on the pothole strewn backloads George stood offering me his hand and aid in getting down. I rolled my eyes at him before ignoring his hand and jumping down myself, I turned to look at him, glad to find that he was still smiling at me and not offended in the slightest by my actions, he knew me too well for that, he knew that I liked to do things for myself. I reached up and pecked him on the cheek for his understanding before closing the van doors with an abrupt bang. George was still smiling at me as he disappeared around the side of the van, heading for the front. I spread my feet apart and took a purposeful stance as I focused on my current task and not how much I adored George, I then reached for my screwdriver which I kept in my handy dandy tool belt I used every now and again for occasions such as this one, it homed absolutely everything I could ever need for breaking and entering. Screwdriver in hand I bent down before the back license plate of the van and used it to pop the little caps, the ones that went atop the screws that kept it attached to the van, off before the unscrewing the license plate and removing it. I gathered up the screws and caps along with the license plate before heading towards the front of the van, the window had already been rolled down and George was there handing John the front license plate through the window. I did the same, John grinned at me as he took them but was obviously relieved, he didn't want the builder's yard he worked for getting wind of the late night activities his work van engaged in.

John rolled the window back up and I turned back to George pulling my hood up as I did so, he mirrored the action, it was so dark here that I couldn't make out a single one of his facial features; they were completely hidden by his hood, mask and the night. This was good, though a little upsetting for me as it was hardly taxing looking at George's stunning features, as that meant we had even less chance of being recognised.

"Lets go," I said and George nodded once before following me into the woods, taking the forest path George and I were cautious in our movements, under the shade of the large towering trees the earth had grown muddy and between that and the large rocks and long roots that would litter the path we had to be careful of where we stepped. The woods grew even darker and impenetrable as we walked further away from the van and the road; tall, intimidating trees rose up on either side of us and obscured our vision making it hard to tell if that shadowy shape in the distance was the outline of a foe or only a tree. As I walked I supposed that it wasn't so ridiculous for John to be afraid here, it was creepy and it hadn't been nearly so bad during the day when George and I had come to work out the route. Still, as difficult as it was to see and however spooky the woods were at night I wasn't frightened, I was to determined for that, there was too much ridding on the success of this mission for that.

As soon as we were deep enough in the woods that the van's headlights were no longer visible George and I switched on the torches attached to out head piece. They helped considerably but still only provided us with a little beam of light while we were surrounded by blackness. We needed the torches even though George and I had advanced eye sight, pretty much twenty-twenty and the dark was hardly a hindrance usually, but there wasn't even the slightest glimmer of light here since the trees were so dense and we needed to turn them on. I turned to face George, who was striding over a tree root protruding from the muddy ground, about to ask him how far we had left to go, since he had explored the woods next to his mansion home for years as a child, preferring its untamed wilderness to the flat, rolling lawns of the Baxter mansion. He looked up at me as soon as he felt the torch light hit him and grinned at me, sensing the question on my lips.

"We'll be there in about ten minutes," George whispered, though his voice still echoed through the trees, the only sound other than the animals scurrying away from our advancing steps in the darkness.

"Right," I said, frowning at how he knew what I was going to ask before I asked it, this only made his grin widen of course.

Why was it that he could pick up on when I wanted something like this, like to ask him a simple question, but he didn't have this deep understanding of what I would want when it concerned my humiliation? I wondered as I frowned at the thought of the dinner party earlier, he probably knew I was trying to keep Alice away from him and so made no effort to avoid her anyway, I thought as my brow furrowed. I would never have had George down as a masochist, but surely he must have been if he had let my brat of a sister start telling her stories about me. Usually it was just harmless stuff, like the many times I had humiliated myself when doing something ridiculous, so as much as I tried to avoid instances when those stories were shared I wasn't that bothered. Alice got on with George a lot anyway and had already told him most of these tales, much to his amusement; however, Alice wasn't one for tact and still didn't quite grasp that Adam, my evil ex, was not a topic to discus in front of George, especially if I wanted to prevent my dreams and what happened in the 'past' from coming true. Anyway, I hadn't thought that even Alice would be blunt enough to bring up Adam around George and I was only trying to spare myself humiliation when I made sure that George was conveniently seated between me and Will at dinner and that Alice was sat as far away from him as I could get her. Because really, my friends hardly took me seriously as it was unless I was having one of my rare (don't look at me like that) angry outbursts, and I didn't need the embarrassment.

Anyway, my plan worked like a charm up until dessert, where everyone returned to the table for their rice pudding and somehow Alice ended up sat at George's right instead of Will. I scanned the table for my best friend, who was sitting next to his sister now and flashing me an apologetic look, 'she bet me to it' he mouthed. I tried to engage an amused and uncooperative George in conversation for the duration of dessert, however the masochist ended up, somehow I had no idea how since I was trying my best to stop it, ended up listening to Alice. She was telling the story of my sixteenth birthday last November and how I had been going to the cinema to celebrate it, I knew this story well and so was about ready to bang my head on the kitchen table but still didn't see the issue arising. She hadn't mentioned WHO had taken me to the cinema.

The story basically went like this, Adam and I had decided to go to a late night showing of some film for my sixteenth birthday, I had had a feeling that Adam had other things in mind for afterwards as although he had yet to turn sixteen himself, his birthday was a few months after mine, he had been dropping hints for days about the main thing a person was legally allowed to do once sixteen. If you get what I mean. Anyway, I never made it to the cinema, you see I had coursework due in at school the day of my birthday and had stopped up late into the night making last minute changes to it and then gone to school the next day, by the time I got home I was shattered and operating on about five hours sleep. Adam came to mine, gave me my present and we both caught the bus to the train station and from there were supposed to catch the train to the shopping centre where our nearest cinema was in the next town over. The train was full of commuters however so we didn't sit together; I managed to find a seat at the front of the compartment and Adam one further down. Shattered but relieved that I was sat down I relaxed in my seat and soon fell asleep. I didn't wake up until approximately three stops after the one I had wanted to get off at when the woman I was sat next to nudged me awake so that she could get off. I exited the train at the stop, wandered around the train platform in a dazed and confused manner until I realised that it was late and I needed to be picked up. Alice was at this point in the story, and everyone was listening and laughing along with it, they all knew the story apart from George of course. I was a furious red colour and grinding my teeth down the a fine powder when she said,

"She rang mum and told her that she had fallen asleep on the train and told us where she was, she was about an hour away from where she was supposed to be."

"Forty-five minutes," I corrected stiffly with a glare in her direction, George grinned at me and gripped my hand under the table; I was seriously considering throwing it away until Alice continued speaking.

"so mum said to stay where she was 'cause she was coming to get her, and then Robin gets a message on her phone telling her that Adam," George's grip on my hand tightened and he stiffened, Alice had yet to use Adam's name in the story and I was suddenly worried, no one else noticed the change in George but me though "had left her a voicemail and she had about six missed calls from him. He'd only got off the train when he was supposed to and was mad that Robin had disappeared, he said that she had been a moody cow all day and that if she didn't want to come then he'd watch the film on his own." Alice said laughing at Adam, as well as my, idiocy. The rest of the table were joining in a muttering words like 'idiot boy' under their breath in reference to Adam, Will had a far off slightly angry look about him and I was guessing he was remembering the day of Adam's birthday when he had told me about his unfaithful ways.

I had risked a cautious glance in George's direction and squeezed his hand comfortingly, he had looked troubled for a mere moment more and then his face had become its usual calm and jovial one, it was almost as though he had decided that it didn't matter anymore because Adam would get what he deserved. And that frightened me even more than if George had upturned to table and dashed from the room heading in Adam's general direction. Unlike me when George was angry he bided his time, he was smart about it and thought it through rather than just charging in head first, but I knew that he only stored that pure anger away, that like his father he had learned to hide his emotions (he usually just chose not to) but that also that meant that when George did happen across Adam next, he would have yet another reason to snap. Last nights dream had replayed in my head and I had felt sick. The rest of the evening had passed without any more laughing at my expense though, and George had seemed fine and hadn't said a single word about that particular incident, he still hadn't.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye as we walked through the woods, in amongst the dark greens, browns and blacks of the forest we would both be near as damn it invisible were it not for our torches. He looked so calm and peaceful as he stepped through the woods, content and maybe even a little excited at the prospect of braking into his fathers house, but not angry, not angry at all. Maybe, I thought as I stepped over a large grey stone on the path, I was anticipating George's reactions biased on my own, I knew that if our roles were reversed and I was forever hearing about the various degrees of crap some girl had inflicted on George, and still continued to inflict, I would not be able to control my anger. George had a lot more self control than I did though, and maybe he could restrain himself. Remembering George's reaction to Adam in the café that time he publically humiliated me and then the ferocity of the many times I had seen them fight, both in the 'past' and in my dreams, I doubted it. George might have a bit more self control than I did, but when it came to certain things he was just as bad as I was, and I had learnt that one of those things was Adam and I.

Deciding that I didn't want to think about that any more I instead focused on the surrounding area, the mysterious woods were definitely beautiful, there was no way that I could deny that and I could totally understand George's fascination with them as a child. It made me feel a little warm and fuzzy that George and I were walking the route he had walked alone as a child, together right now, kind of cheesy I suppose, but I liked it nonetheless. I thought as I shook my head, who would have thought that I'd end up so soft. However despite its beauty and dark mystery the woods gave me an unsettled feeling in my stomach, I wasn't creeped out like John was, not really, this was something else entirely, I was starting to be overcome by a sense of déjà vue. At first I couldn't quite place it, I started looking around the woods for clues and things to jog my memory, but to the best of my knowledge I had never been here before the last time I came here with George to look around. It hit me then, it wasn't that I had been here in specifically this place before, though I might have been I don't know, it was just that there, immersed by the greenery and wandering around with the intention of stealing money, I was reminded of my stint as the true Robin Hood in the past, or whatever hallucination that had been. I frowned at the solution to the déjà vue my mind had concocted, that wasn't it, not all of it at least. I thought as I carried on along the woodland path, the sounds of the small animals scurrying away loud in my ears. It was day light the last time, I thought cryptically.

"Let's go," George said suddenly repeating my words from earlier but unbeknownst to him repeating his own words from centuries ago, it was the words that triggered the memory; it was the action of him entwining his fingers with mine and leading me forward. This was exactly what Marin had said and done before we watched the soldiers training in the clearing in the 'past', where we discovered the extent of the Sheriff and Prince John's plan and where the mess truly started. I remembered the motion, I even remembered what I had been thinking at the time, I had been wondering why George never grabbed my hand like that back in the present, as I remembered this I fought the urge to laugh out loud, look at how things change, I thought as I gripped George's hand and walked with him. "We're almost there now." He finished and I nodded, glad that I had placed my déjà vue but still not expecting what happened next.

George and I reached the end of the woods soon after that, as a precaution we bent down low behind the bushes and surveyed the scene, the west wall was just in front of us, lined with bushes (In some of which Will had hidden cameras), the no mans land in-between the woods and the walls was dotted with trees that would make good cover for us as well. Neither Will nor Jack as in sight but that was okay, there were no guards here either. I was turning on the switch on my ear piece (which had been oddly quiet so I guessed Mark had been instructing Will and Jack while we trudged through the woods, homing in on only their ear pieces rather than talking to the lot of us, another improvement he had made to them, he could talk to all of us or just to a selected number. Anyway I was turning that on to tell Mark that we had reached the edge of the woods when I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye and to my left, George was crouched to my right using a pair of binoculars to survey the scene further so I knew it wasn't him. I flicked the switch on my ear so that my mic was working but didn't say anything; I turned to the left and scanned the trees, that familiar feeling back, telling me that I had been here before. Clearly I was an idiot, or in denial or both since it took me forever to connect the dots, well actually I didn't realise what was happening until I saw her, I guessed that I had been repressing any idea that what had happened then had been truth and that was why it was so hard for me to realise what was happening. George was already staring at her in confusion when I turned and saw her properly, just like the last time.

To my left, half hanging out of the bushes in her eagerness was a girl, I say girl but really she was probably older than I was, about nineteen probably. She had long mousy blonde hair that was pulled back into a pony tail, had pale skin that seemed to glow in the moon light though her furious red cheeks were just as noticeable, she wore a long button up coat in a deep red colour that made her stand out even more. She wasn't stood very far away from us so we could make out all of this pretty easy even without our advanced senses, she didn't notice our presence at all however as she was glaring at the mansion walls with such determination that I was sure that if she could send out laser beams from her eyes the thick and tall stone wall would be nothing but dust. She looked furious, murderous even, as she glared intently seeming to be gathering her courage together so that she could do this one thing.

"What do you think she's doing here?" George asked me in a whispered voice that I was sure was unnecessary, I doubted she would have heard him even if he had shouted the words since she was so wrapped up in what seemed like anger but I knew to be grief.

I didn't answer George, as the memory of what had happened last time hit me before I had the chance, and at exactly the same time the girl seemed to have gathered all the courage she could find and stepped from behind the bush, heading towards the wall at a run, she was going to try and climb it, and that would set off the alarms. I didn't even have to think about it, I took of after her pushing myself forward with as much speed as I had, I couldn't let her do this.

"Robin?" I heard George question in a frantic hushed tone and he followed after me, I was glad that he did because if memory served me she wasn't going to give in easily.

Though it sickened me to think of someone's pain as an advantage for me, the girls grief was starting to overwhelm her and fortunately slowed her run as she broke down, what with that and my speed I soon caught up with her. "No," I hissed as I grabbed hold of her right arm and yanked her back, she was caught by such surprise that she stepped back without question. At first.

"Let me go!" she all but screamed for the second time in my memory, I frowned though at her loud outburst, I threw my hand over her mouth the stop her from alerting the guards, she shrieked behind my hand and struggled.

"Robin?" George asked as he came to a stop beside me, not sure what to do.

"Please George," I said as I turned to face him with a frantic expression, I remembered what happened next after this and I was not about to let it happen again, I wasn't going to risk George that way "you have to trust me, we need to get her back to the trees before they hear us." I locked my gaze with George's, trying to make him understand that I knew what I was doing and that it was vital that no one saw us here and we got away unnoticed.

Though he looked reluctant George must have seen something in my eyes that made him abandon his ethics for a moment and he grabbed the girls other arm so that together we could tow her back to the trees, gently of course. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this, you'll get yourself caught and ruin everything." I told her as I tried to be gentle but she fought against me in such a way that it was hard, my hand covering her mouth sipped,

"I don't care!" she managed to exclaim before my hand covered her mouth once more and her struggling picked up again.

"You would," I told her with such certainty that both she and George looked at me as though to ask how I could be so sure of that, I didn't answer their unspoken question of course, I was barely coming to grips with the possibility that I wasn't mad after all, I was hardly going to tell them why I knew "we wont hurt you and we want to help, so can you not struggle, its really irritating." I added, my voice going towards a hiss by the end, I hadn't meant to sound so edgy but I was getting a bit defensive thanks to this déjà vue and it really was hard pulling her like this. For about a second thought she might actually do as I was asking but then her brow furrowed and angry tears welled up in her eyes and she started to struggle even more.

We soon reach the woods though and although I constantly had to remind myself that it was only the grief making her act like this and that she was really a nice person, as soon as we reached the edge of the woods I said,

"Now, if I'm going to let you go I want you to promise me that you won't do anything stupid or run away yet." I said, not even realising I had pretty much repeated what I had said the last time until the words were out of my mouth.

Just like last time the girl looked defeated and tired, worn down by her sorrow; however his time she only looked sad and shook her head, telling me that she couldn't make that promise. I frowned but understood where she was coming from; I was sure that if I was in her situation I couldn't make that promise either, however I had to extract that promise from her.

"Louise," I said taking a risk here by connecting this girl to the girl that had done this very thing in the past, who went by the name of Eloise and how I had earlier connected her to the girl called Louise that Joey had been out with a few times. I had never met her but I had made the off hand connection that maybe if I wasn't crazy they were one on the same since there had been something going on between Joey and Eloise in the past. Anyway, I took the risk and it paid off as the girls eyes widened in recognition and I knew that was her name "I promise that we want to help you." I said as I took my hand away from her mouth, unable to look at George who was regarding me with something more than confusion now.

"H…how do you know my name?" she asked me, no longer struggling but looking at me in bewilderment.

I don't know what made me say it, especially given our current issue with people finding out more about us than they should, but I told her the truth, or rather, the part of it that didn't make me look like a loon "my name is Robin, I'm Joey Hudson's cousin." I explained, I ignored George's intake of breath and focused instead on the understanding in Louise's eyes.

"Joey," she repeated softly "he spoke of you a lot," she said with a smile before frowning in confusion as she took in what I was wearing and the surroundings before asking "what are you doing here?"

"I suppose I could ask you the same question," I said but not defensively really, it was just a statement. It felt really weird taking to Louise like this, especially since I felt like I already knew her from past experiences, but I supposed that from all that Joey's told her of me she probably feels similarly "but instead I'll tell you the truth," I said and I glanced at George only long enough to see his surprised wide eyes and to watch him shake his head "I'm Robin Hood."

"Robin!" George hissed but I was too busy assessing Louise's response to answer him and explain my crazy behaviour, she looked thoughtful for a moment, she took in both my appearance and the surroundings again before she looked at me and smiled a sad smile.

"I suppose it makes sense," she said.

"Yeah, but now that I've trusted you with my secret, could you trust me enough not to run away and do something stupid when I let you go, setting of the alarms and getting yourself caught wont help anything." I told her, cautiously and persuasively since I wanted this to work.

She nodded but I noticed that there were tears welling up in her eyes again "I'm sorry," she said as George and I let her go, I gave George a reassuring look but he still didn't look convinced, he had that worried expression back on his face, I wasn't worried, for some inexplicable reason I trusted Louise, I trusted Jess and Joe as well. George gave in then, he knew that I didn't give out my trust easily.

"Why?" I asked her as she collapsed on the floor in upset.

"I had to do something, I had to do that, I'm sorry I nearly messed up your plans or whatever, but I couldn't not." She said as the tears began to flow, I watched as George began to soften and smiled at him as he asked,

"Why, what's wrong?"

"My…my dad, Baxter had him killed!" Louise wept, I knew already knew that this was what had happened, my heart went out to her again, I could only imagine what it felt like to lose your dad, how painful it must be. George's face hardened then, with hate and loathing for his father, he reached out to comfort Louise, trying to make up for what his father had done in some way, I knew him well enough to know that was what he had trying to do.

Wanting to get a full understanding of how things differed in the present I asked "why Louise, why did they kill him?"

Louise sniffled and dabber her eyes with her coat sleeve, smudging black mascara on her red coat in the process as she said,

"He was a Rebel," she said and I wondered for a moment why she was describing her dads characteristics, that hadn't happened the last time "he stood up to Baxter so they…they killed him for it." she said braking down there at then end and crying even more "I…I thought that if I could…oh I don't even know what I was going to do if I got in there, I just wanted to avenge him." she said sounding so heartbroken it was actually painful for us as well, I looked at George who was still trying to comfort Louise.

"Don't worry," he said gently "we'll help you, what about the rest of your family, do they need our help too?"

Still drying her eyes Louise shook her head and said "there's no one else, it was just me and my dad and now he's gone I cant see any point in me going back home, I'll never be able to pay the rent either." Louise wept as the thought hit her, that she was going to lose the roof over her head.

"We will help you, I promise," I told her as I looked around us, no one seemed to have spotted up yet "but we need to get out of here first."

"Alright," she said as we got to our feet, George looked at me for a moment before asking,

"Robin, what about our mission?"

"We can't do it now, I'll sort it though don't worry." I told him in what I hoped was a reassuring voice. George nodded and met my gaze; we shared a long look before a sharp screeching sound pierced our ears and both George and I winced in pain and raised our hands to our ears. I heard mine, George's, Jack's and Will's collective gasp of pain as the headphone switched on.

"What, what's wrong?" Louise asked sounding worried, but neither George nor I could answer as suddenly Mark's voice filled our ears.

"Sorry about that," he apologised, "I was having trouble connecting to Robin and George so I had to tweak something."

"And you had to deafen the rest of us, why?" asked an irritated Will and in spite of the ringing in my ears I grinned.

"I didn't mean to so stop complaining," Mark told him before asking "Robin, George, can you two hear me now?"

"Maybe," I replied "when the ringing stops."

"I've said I'm sorry," he said in aggravation before asking "where are you two, has something gone wrong since I haven't seen you on the cameras yet?"

"There's been, a change of plan." I hedged with a look at Louise.

"We can't go in there now," George added coming to back me up.

"And why is that?" Mark asked, George and I shared a look not exactly sure what to say.

"We've found someone who needs our help, we'll have to do this another day because we need to get out of here now, before someone spots us." I said getting a little urgent towards the end there, but I had been here once before and I didn't want to risk history starting to repeat its self any more than it already was, if I could change this, then I could change the other parts as well, and that was vital to me right now.

"Why, have you triggered an alarm?" Will asked.

"No but trust me when I say we need to get out of here, John I need you to get the van back onto the street outside the mansion, park as far away as you can but still close enough that we can get there fast." I said, knowing that Mark would have us on loudspeaker on his laptop so John could hear too, I could hear John chuckling at our pain in the background as well.

"With pleasure," John announced distantly since he wasn't very close to the mic, he sounded relieved to be leaving the creepy woodland back roads.

"Robin?" Will questioned in my ear, probably hearing the distress in my voice, Jack acted on it however and urged Will into movement, even though she was no where near him, with five words.

"We're on our way, Robin." She said and about a second after she said this Will said a little reluctantly,

"Okay Robin, we'll talk in a minute." And I presumed he and Jack were both heading back towards the van now.

"Come on," I instructed George and Louise and together the three of us headed along the edge of the woodlands, just out of sight and down towards the road. I ushered them along probably more than I should have done, but as far as I was concerned there was still time for us to be spotted and I wasn't comfortable with that risk. The last time Adam (Guy) had lead the party that chased us and even though I had fought him instead of George (Marin) I was not going to chance it, I didn't want George and Adam anywhere near each other.

We reached the van after Jack and Will; even though they had a slightly longer distance to cross they didn't have the hindrance of the woods slowing them down. Just like I had asked, John was parked a good distance down the road and away from the mansion, we reached the nondescript but licence-less van and I opened the back doors, letting Louise and George climb in before I did myself and closed the doors behind me. Not even then did I let myself relax. Sat in the back with us on the van floor was Mark and Will, Jack was in the front again with John, as John peeled out of the street on my orders the others looked at me in confusion, waiting for me to explain.

"Where to?" John asked first, I turned to face the front, subconsciously reaching out for George's hand because I felt the need to have him close right now, I felt terrible right now, all of my worry and fear was bubbling to the surface now as the fact that had been keeping me sane these past few months, the belief that George was safe because all of that had only been a dream, an imagining. Now that belief was rocked as I began to wonder that if this could be true then what else could be too. Right now I wanted nothing more to have George close to me, but I knew that wasn't possible right now, that I had other things to do before I could do that and so I stopped myself getting too worried.

"Joe and Jess's house," I answered without a second thought, the others looked at me like I'd gone mad.

"I thought we were going to wait to deal with that?" Will asked and John shot me a pleading look in the rear-view mirror, begging me not to be too harsh.

"We are," I clarified "Louise needs a place to stay for a while, Jess and Joe have a spare room they aren't using and I know their parents won't mind her staying there for a while." The others looked relieved and Louise shot me an appreciative look.

"Is that wise though?" Mark asked, we all knew what he was really asking though, could be trust them with this if they were giving away our secrets?

"We don't have a choice, and besides, I trust them." I said and I watched as Will, George and Jack nodded.

"So do I," John added and I smiled at him before turning to face Mark, who nodded and sent me a small smile, the dark circles still thick underneath his eyes and I guessed he still wasn't sleeping.

I explained everything as we drove towards Jess and Joe's house, well, almost everything, I explained about Louise and her situation, I told them how I knew her and why I trusted her with my identity because she knew Joey, I asked her not to tell anyone especially Joey who I really was and she agreed I even told Louise about how Baxter wasn't in the mansion right now, and therefore unfortunately her plan would not have worked anyway. What I did not discus or so much as even mention was the déjà vue, I didn't tell my friends how even though I've never met Louise before I knew who she was right off, I never told them how I knew what she was going to do and even why she was going to do it. I couldn't tell them that I thought I knew all of this because that was how it happened last time, they would ask what I meant by last time and I would have to explain that while I was knocked out the other week I travelled back in time to King Richard's England and tried to do my bit there and that was where I had met Louise before. They'd have me locked up in a mental institution for sure. And although I sometimes wondered about my own sanity I knew that I wasn't crazy, I knew that I wasn't making this up either, I had a job to do and I couldn't very well do that from inside a white padded cell. So, once again I shied away from telling them, and as guilty as I felt a part of my brain, the part that had told me not to tell them about my dreams when Mark had, told me that this was the right thing to do. But that said, I didn't feel any less low down for lying to them like this. So, as I sat there in the back of the van explaining to them what I could without prompting them to call for a straightjacket, I couldn't help but wonder what this was all about, why I was getting these weird dreams, why I possibly maybe went back in time, and why history was starting to repeat its self. I looked at George a lot during that journey, hoping that my time with him wasn't already starting to run out.

**Author note: so what do you think? I'm liking where I see this heading right now and I'm wondering what you think? Thanks again for reading and reviewing dares to dream, and thanks to those of you (if indeed there is any of you) that merely read but don't review this story, I'm not being sarcastic, thanks for reading, I only wish you would review as well and tell me your opinions. Hope you liked it, please review. :) x**


	9. Passions

**Author note: The glorious weather is to thank for this chapter being posted now, the sixth form is shut due to heavy snow fall and in addition to almost the whole town being at a standstill and/or hiding in their homes until the snow melts I have been given the time to get this chapter done and been left time to revise for my exams as well! Good times. Here it is, chapter nine, I hope that you like it. :)**

**Chapter nine**

**Hudson Farm**

It was about one o'clock in the morning when George and I returned to the farm; John had dropped us both off last after everyone else, since we were the last stop on the route and was now on his way back home. We were shattered and about ready to just collapse on our beds and sleep, trekking through the woods would do that to you, after we found Louise we had taken her to Joe and Jess's house, their parents weren't in and Joe and Jess looked like they were ready to head out themselves since they were both donning coats as we knocked on the door. Whatever plans they had made they cancelled to stay and hear us out, despite this kindness however I found that I couldn't help but think about our imposters and wonder if they had been on their way to meet them now so that they could divulge our secrets, it was shameful to even think it but I honestly couldn't help it. From the looks on the others faces, I could tell that they were thinking the same as me. Anyway, we managed to push aside our faithless suspicions and get on with the task at hand, Jess and Joe were just as sympathetic as to Louise's predicament as I had hoped (remembered) they would be and they had been willing to let her stay in their lost conversion until things sorted themselves out and she had finished her grieving.

Unlike Eloise in the past, Louise had avoided being seen with Outlaws and therefore didn't have to go into hiding, she was staying with the Anderson's (Joe and Jess and their family) until she got enough money together to be able to rent somewhere without her dad, she worked as a hairdresser and had to end lease on the house she was renting with her dad, and also she stayed with them so that she could grieve properly without having to worry. Jess said that her parents and grandma (Beatrice) would not mind Eloise staying with them, however they would not be getting back until later and Eloise had best just go to bed and speak to them in the morning. Joe had showed her to her room and Eloise had called Joey, despite the time, and told him what had happened, she made good of her word and didn't tell him about who I was and I appreciated that. Something about what Jess had said stuck with me long after we had said goodbye and John was dropping us all off though, she had mentioned that her parents were going to be out late, and also from the looks of things both of them were going out as well even though it had been quarter to midnight when we called. I couldn't help but wonder not only about our imposters, but also about where my parents had been disappearing off to and if Jess and Joe's parents were sneaking off to the same place. I made a mental note to ask them about it, preferably after all the stuff with the imposters was sorted out and we had settled our suspicions.

And so, a absolutely exhausted George and I unlocked the front door, I was pleased to see that the small family car was still in the driveway meaning that everyone was in, and snuck in as quietly as we could so as not to wake anyone up. Approaching to creaking stairs with caution we crept upstairs without so much as a sound, George came to a stop in front of my bedroom door and turned to face me. Once again George looked a vision, his blond hair ruffled from wearing his hood and his blue eyes managing to catch whatever light there was in the darkened corridor making them glitter, he smiled down at me tiredly before opening his arms for me to step into. I moved without a word, wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head against his chest, I sighed in contentment when his arms wrapped around me, gently holding me to him.

"What's wrong Robin?" he whispered in my ear as he pressed his cheek against my hair and held me tight, the motion was comforting "you've looked worried all day, for weeks really, and you keep looking at me like you expect me to disappear."

"Cant I look at my boyfriend anymore?" I asked him, I was going for a snappy tone, I was going to start an argument but I just couldn't, my words came out like a pained whimper instead, shocking me immensely.

George shook his head, his lips still right by my ear as he breathed "no, not with such a look of sorrow on your face."

"Says the guy that was so convinced earlier that I was going to tell him I was going to leave him, I saw you this morning George, you honestly believed that I would." I whispered in reply, not answering any of his questions and steering the topic off of me, I didn't want to talk about it now; odds are I'd brake down and tell him everything.

I felt George flinch at my words and instantly regretted them, however George then let out a shaky laugh and pulled away from me so that he could look down at me as he said "I guess I still cant believe my luck." He then raised his right hand to cup the side of my face and looked at me with so much love that my heart honestly felt like it had stopped beating.

I snorted "You're not the lucky one, you've got to put up with me and my moods," see I can admit it "besides, I'm nothing special, you are however, so I fail to see how you can feel insecure about me leaving you. There's no chance of that happening." I told him, meaning every word and trying to make him feel one hundred percent secure in the fact that I loved him and that I wasn't going anywhere, I didn't want him riddled with doubts, especially if my dreams and what happened in the past hold any truth.

George chucked and pulled me to him again, hugging me tightly "Your moods are part of why I love you so much." He laughed and I pulled away long enough to throw him an appalled look and say,

"Thanks, don't bother trying to deny it or tell me that I'm not moody or anything, cheers for that." he then pulled me back towards him, still chuckling, I went willingly and wrapped my arms around him, matching the tightness of his grip.

"You know I mean it in the best way," he said and I made a doubtful noise "and just so you know, I'm not going anywhere either, not without a fight." I swear I almost cried then and there, now you all know I'm not one for weeping but something about what George said made me want to cry so badly. Yeah he might not leave me WILLINGLY, but he can't help it if he's taken from me. I shook off those thoughts then, scolding myself, a few nightmares and one part of my experience in the past coming true and I was all set to believe that George was going to die. It was ridiculous, I was being stupid, I needed to make sure George knew that I wasn't going anywhere just so that we could enjoy our relationship and feel secure, not because his days were numbered and I was having prophetic dreams to tell me that. I was being stupid. My dreams were just that, dreams, they were nothing like Mark's even if Mark's could be considered dreams, and the only similarity was that I was getting just as tired as Mark was now. At least his dreams were letting up a bit, I thought, Mark hand managed to get some proper sleep last night after all our planning at the office, he still had his reoccurring dream about the prophecy, but at least he got some sleep.

"I know that," I said working on brightening my tone, annoyed that even though I had convinced myself (yet again) that my dreams amounted to nothing, I was still unhappy and unwilling to go to bed and deal with them again, I also didn't want to leave George.

"Good," George said pulling away and looking at me once more, though his expression was serious now "but you're not getting away with it that easily Robin, what's bothering you so much?"

"We talked about this, this morning," I groaned really unwilling to discus this "it's nothing."

"But whatever it is, is clearly still bothering you." George insisted, clearly I wasn't getting out of this conversation, so rather than admit to him that I was possibly going mad (visiting the past) and having dreams about his death, I lied.

"It's nothing, I'm just wondering about Jess and Joe; I don't honestly think they would betray us, and I'm worried about the imposters and if they mean us any harm. Not to mention the money shortage and how on Earth we're going to give money to the poor if we cant even keep a roof over our own heads." I said in a hurried rush, I was fairly good a lying but George was the only person that could sway me from it if I thought it was for the best. Okay, it wasn't really a lie, I mean I am worried about all of those things, really badly, especially how we were going to hand money out without any to give, but the reason I kept looking at George and my troubled expression over the past weeks, those specific questions George had asked, were a result of my dreams. So yeah, it was probably lying.

"Don't worry," George soothed though I knew that he was worrying about those things just as much as I was plus his own stuff with his father, so it really didn't comfort me all that much "I think you're right about Joe and Jess, and even if they are telling some of our secrets no one has found us yet so they are clearly still loyal to us, and these imposters have done nothing yet to truly hurt us or even make us look bad, they're just doing the sort of things we normally do."

"I just don't want it to end up like last time, no one can afford to turn us away, more so now than ever, but I know they will if they think we're doing something immoral." I told him, like I said; I honestly was worried about this stuff.

"If it even starts to get bad we'll cut it off before things get too much, besides, we're talking to Jess and Joe about it soon, Tuesday when they come to the office, and we'll get the money, there's that decorating job on Tuesday as well and we're going back to the mansion tomorrow night." George whispered and I nodded "we'll be fine we always are." He said though despite his words his expression told me that he was worried he might be wrong.

"I know," I told him in a quiet voice just in case anyone was listening "I reckon we should get some sleep, we've got college tomorrow." I grudgingly admitted as I reached up and gently caressed the side of his face with my hand, his eyes drifted shut at my touch and I smiled in spite of the worry I felt.

"Hum," he murmured, he sounded about as reluctant as I felt "I suppose," he said before his eye flew open and he reached down to kiss me, I welcomed the touch of his soft lips and retuned his kiss with an eagerness he had not expected given my drowsy state. My attraction to him flared and I was overcome by the incredible need to be close to him, he feel his body against mine, and so what had started out as a simple goodnight kiss ended up with the two of us kissing each other in an almost frantic state. His lips were slowly becoming more and more urgent, I could sense the want and desire behind them and felt myself return it in my own kisses, I knew exactly how he felt, I had never ever felt like this before, never in my life had I had such a want and a need for someone. It hit me then what I wanted, hit me like a revelation, I wanted George. I wanted him so badly that I wasn't thinking, my hands slipped under the soft fabric of his hoodie and shirt both, caressing the warm skin of his back in a rather suggestive manner as I traced a line with my finger around George's jeans waist band. George shivered in what I hoped was please, I smiled against his lips but George pulled away.

"Now," he said with a smile of his own on his lips, his breathing was heavy and laboured as well "is not a good time, I think."

I was momentarily put out, I frowned at George for cutting short our kiss and ending whatever could have happened before it had a chance to, George grinned at my pouting and that only made me glare more. I was about to object or pull George's lips back to mine when I realised exactly what I had been doing. I hadn't been thinking, I had been taking it too far and I hadn't even thought about it, I hadn't given a second thought to the fact that we were not alone in the house and that even our kissing in the mildest way made my family uncomfortable. I hadn't even given a thought to how in the current situation this was not the time, I had been so wrapped up in my sudden need that everything else had gone out the window, and I loved it. When had I developed this sudden need for George? I wondered as I tried to even out my breathing, I had always fought Adam when he tried to take it that step forward, and now I was the one trying to get things to speed up. The answer was simple of course, I trusted George, I loved George and the idea of spending a night with him did not make me feel reluctant or evasive (or repulsed) as it would and did when ever Adam not so romantically suggested it.

"I'm sorry," I said even though I wasn't really, I was sorry that I had possibly made George uncomfortable since maybe he wasn't ready to go that far yet but I wasn't sorry that I had made my feelings known "I shouldn't have…"

"Don't be sorry," George told me, his smile wide and his eyes shinning in the darkness, reminding me once again of lighthouse beacons "I'm not, I just don't think its something we want to do now, some other time…" George said gradually staring to sound more embarrassed and even in the dark I could see that he was blushing cutely "…would be great, when we're not both dead on our feet and there is less stuff hanging over our heads."

His embarrassment was so endearing to me that I only smirked at him and nodded, unable to feel mad or robbed when he looked at me like that "what?" he asked with a little laugh.

"Nothing," I said, deciding it would be beyond cheesy to say something like 'your cute when you blush' even though it was true. George seemed satisfied anyway; he locked those beautiful eyes with mine before leaning in and kissing me tenderly on the lips again. I responded and instinctively tried to deepen the kiss; George chuckled and pulled away again.

"What am I going to do with you?" he asked me as he smiled at me "you're making it very hard to resist you."

"Then don't," I told him, not in a seductive manner but simply as a solution to his problem, the answer was obvious, why bother fighting something like this?

"If we're doing this we're going to do it properly, Robin." He said in a hushed voice as he linked his hand with mine.

"When?" I asked him, this new need having taken root so deep inside me now that I had to ask.

"When it's right," he said before raising my hand to his lips and kissing my knuckle gently, he then winked at me and said "Night." Before letting go of my hand and heading for his bedroom door.

"Night," I said tiredly before yawning into my hand, George flashed me one more dazzling smile before disappearing into his room and switching on the light so he could see. I watched his shadow moving across the bedroom, the dark spaces cast in the light streaming from under the door showing me his progress, I then yawned again and realised that I had been half asleep and staring at George's door.

Feeling tiredness hit me repeatedly in waves I turned my door handle and opened the door, I closed it behind me and flicked on the light switch, I stifled a gasp as what I saw waiting for me in the corner of my bedroom.

"Excuse me while I just throw up," Adam sneered darkly from his corner where he lent against the wall, we sized each other up, acting like boxers across a ring and not two people who were once together. "Now why is it," Adam asked as he pushed off from the wall and took step towards me, my hands balled into fists and I glared at him, I had thought that I was rid of him "that I spent ages, the last four months of our six month relationship actually, trying to coax you into bed and you've been seeing Peter Perfect there for only what, three weeks, and you're already offering yourself up to him? Is there any justice in this world?"

"Shhhh," I hissed, conscious of the volume of Adam's speech since George could hear almost perfectly, better than any human being ever should be able to and better than the rest of us, I was sure he must have heard Adam by now but apparently not since he hadn't said anything. Adam had whispered his words though, he had said them so quietly that I had barely heard them; the force with which he said them was the only thing that made them audible. "Get out of here." I spat, not even bothering to ask what he wanted.

"What?" he whisper shouted "don't you have an answer for to questions?"

I shuddered at the thought of Adam over hearing our conversation, he had though, clearly he had or he wouldn't be saying this. It made my skin crawl that he had been in here while George and I were having such a conversation "You have no right to demand any answers from me." I told him, speaking every inch the truth because he didn't; he had no right to stand there and demand to know what I was doing with George.

"I can demand anything I want," he told me, his voice still low and barely audible "I own you, or did you forget?"

"You don't own me, get that into your thick skull and get the hell out of my room!" I hissed in a quiet and dangerous voice, I took a step into the room to try and usher him out but he was having none of it.

"We had this discussion just yesterday, Robin," he reminded me coldly "I say jump, you say how high, remember?"

"No," I said sternly as my fury mounted, his words pissing me off immensely "You, are jumping right out this window, now, and staying away from me forever. I've had enough of this, I am not your slave any more." I was right in front of him then; about to grab hold of him and pull him to the window, his next words stopped me however.

"What, so is that it then, you going to sleep with him and then let me tell his dad his big secret just so that you can get rid of me?" he asked and I felt my eye twitch, absolute rage coursing through my veins as I curled my hands into fists and rounded on Adam, almost shaking with rage.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say?" I asked him, my voice strained, seeing my reaction Adam sneered and said,

"I said, are you gunna shag him and then hand him over to Baxter?" each word laced with venom and each word stinging me because of that, I broke then, I snapped and without so much as a moments hesitation I pulled back my fist and punched Adam. He doubled over as a blood vessel broke and blood started to steam down his nose, he didn't fall over and didn't let out any noise other than a disgusted one. He glared up at me as I spoke, my tone nothing but a hiss.

"Do not judge me by your standards; we all know that that's what you did with my supposedly best friend simply because I wasn't going to give you any. I love George, get that, I love him! I trust him and feel safe with him, he's a decent person and he loves me back…"

"Oh, stop your gunna make me sick." He said once again reverting back to his natural Have Not accent because he was made.

"…which is more than I can say for you!" I concluded still glaring at him and trying not to let my voice get too loud "you were put on this Earth purely to piss me off."

"What can I say, its one of my many passions." He spat angrily and got to his feet, blood still dripping from his nose.

"Well no more, I'm not putting up with it any longer, I want you gone." I said as I went to grab hold of him again but I stopped when I caught Adam looking at faint remnants of the bruise his hands around my neck had caused me three weeks ago, yellowed and smaller now but still most defiantly there.

"Don't underestimate me," he said taking his gaze away from my neck and locking his gaze with mine, that horrifying and completely un-Adam dark look back in his eyes, I remained firm though, I didn't let on how much his words scared me.

"Out," I repeated, gesturing to the window, Adam didn't move however and asked,

"I thought you said that you loved him?" In a whispered tone.

"I do," I told him with a frown, not sure why he was asking me this.

"Then do you really think telling me to get lost is a good idea, given how upset it would make me?" he asked in a tone that could only be described as deadly, another thing that was never part of the old, common and relatively harmless (unless you were the section of the heart that worried about faithfulness or a self esteem) Adam.

"I don't believe you; you'd never tell on him, you're just bluffing." I said sternly, sure of myself and not about to be bullied by Adam, that didn't work however.

"I thought that maybe you were thinking that," Adam said before pulling a folded and unsealed envelope out of his pocket "which is why I brought this, since your not going to play along with the blackmail thing I'm just going to have to hand it to Mr. Baxter now." He said and just as he did he opened the envelope and pulled out a picture, it wasn't one I had been expecting, not one of the old ones that Adam had showed me the very first time be broke into my room, this one was newer, taken just last week to be specific. The picture showed George and I (thought you couldn't tell that it was me since I had my mask on, it was only evident that I was 'Robin Hood') walking down the lane after being dropped off my John about a week ago, we're laughing despite being tired because we hadn't got back from the drop off's until about five o'clock in the morning and the sun was just starting to rise. Adam had snapped the picture just after George had taken off his mask, his hood was down as well and the slip of material in his hand no longer hid his identity. I felt my eyes go wide and made a grab for the picture.

"Give me it!" I whisper shouted as I lunged for the picture but Adam pulled it away before I could reach it, laughing quietly and sinisterly as he did.

"I don't think so," he said and I glared at him, I was backed into a corner now and I had no choice, and he knew it as well as I did "now that I have your attention, what are you going to do to stop me from giving this and the other photo's to Mr. Baxter?"

"What do you want?" I asked, asking for the first time since he got here the reason why that was.

"You didn't come to my house last night," he said, his voice menacing and that darkness in his brown eyes again "I want you to keep to the terms of our agreement, you do what I ask, when I tell you to. This is out of my hands now." Something about that last bit caught my attention; it prickled at the back of my subconscious but was soon overrun by more pressing matters.

I frowned and stifled a repulsed shiver at Adam's words, the thought of going to Adam's house, where I would be at his mercy, held no joy for me and I actually started to feel physically ill because of it, I could take my punishment though, I could deal with it if it meant that George would be safe.

"When?" I asked him through gritted teeth, my hands were still in fists by my side and I was about ready to snap again but just about holding on, staring at this loathsome creature did not help.

"How about Tuesday, I'm busy tomorrow," Adam suggested, I bet you are you slimy bastard, I thought angrily as I continued to glare at him "about eleven o'clock, make sure that you're there by then and I'll make sure that you leave at one."

I nodded, it was a stiff and forced movement, I was so angry that I could hardly control myself long enough to do that; I couldn't believe that I was being forced into something by Adam, yet again. I shook with rage, which only made Adam grin as he could see just how much this pained me.

"Me and you have got some things to discus, since I've got a few things to tell you, the sort of things Georgie boy could never tell you." he told me in a secretive, vindictive whisper.

"Out," I growled at him "out now, I've agreed to your demand now leave me in peace." I said furious and with my patience stretched to braking point I was going to lose it pretty darn soon.

"And if I say no?" Adam asked and I snapped, I pulled my hand back and slapped him, even though it wasn't the punch I had delivered earlier it had enough righteous anger behind it to knock Adam into my chest of draws. As his body collided with the wood the whole thing shook and banged against the wall, George's wall, every ornament and object on top of it clattered and rolled and I cringed at the noise all of this made.

Adam rounded on me, his so expression furious I had no doubts that he was going to return my slap, or worse. I raised my chin in defiance and remained grounded where I stood, Adam had already taken enough from me, my pride, my self respect and my principles, I wasn't going to let him know that he was starting to frighten me as well. Fortunately before Adam could stalk any closer to me the sound of the light flicking back on in George's room echoed through the house, we both froze, my mind whirling and hoping that George had fallen straight to sleep when he climbed into bed and had just woken up and so hadn't heard any of that, because that tiny motion of George turning on the light made so much noise that I was fearful that our hushed argument hadn't been quiet enough. My gaze shot to my door as I heard George's door open, I shot Adam a look as George knocked gently on my bedroom door.

"Robin?" he asked gently through the wood, I ran to the door and griped the handle in my hand, I turned back to tell Adam to shove off but he was already disappearing under my bed.

"George," I said softly, guilt and shame filling me at the concern in his voice, this was starting to become a regular thing, Adam showing up, us arguing and making a noise which George then heard and came to investigate. I hated myself and Adam both for letting this happen.

"Are you alright?" he asked me and I slowly opened the door, there he was, standing on the landing with that all too familiar look of worry on his face, his blond hair tousled from what little sleep he had gotten.

"Yeah, I was just looking for something; I tripped over something on the floor and fell into my draws though." I said shrugging it off as though it was nothing, though I was sure that my expression was still murderous.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked stepping into the room, I took a step back for every step he took out of pure shame, this stopped after three steps and when George reached out to lightly touch my head with one hand and to inspect my arm with the other, looking for damage.

"Yes, it probably wont even bruise. I'm fine." I said with an edge to my voice that was directed at Adam. "Did I wake you?" I asked just in case George nodded sleepily and smiled, I knew then he hadn't heard anything other than the bang.

"I fell to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow," he said as he laced his fingers with mine "no such luck?"

"No," I said no longer able to meet George's gaze now that I knew what was coming this Tuesday "no such luck."

"I'll leave you to get some sleep then, if you're okay." He said before leaning in and kissing me on the forehead, he bid me a goodnight that I weakly returned and the headed back to his room. I closed the door behind him and switched off the light listening to the shuffling that signified Adam getting up from under the bed.

"Aww," Adam mocked and without need for anything else I stormed across the room until I was right in front of him and then hissed, in the quietest most deadliest voice I could manage,

"Out, get out now."

Adam laughed at how on edge I was but didn't argue, he headed towards the open window and was half way out when he turned back and whispered, "See you Tuesday." I glared at him but didn't utter any response, my chest rising and falling rapidly as I fought to keep a handle on my rage, with one more smirk in my direction Adam vanished from sight.

Furious and filled with the desire to scream I ran to my bed, picked up my pillow and pushed it to my face before doing just that, angry tears burned my eyes but I fought them back, I would not shed a tear (not even one caused by fury) for Adam, not ever. I threw my pillow back down, being more cautious of George in the next room now, I sank onto my bed, deflated and worn out, unable to believe what I had agreed to and about ready to tare my hair out. How was I going to get out of this one? Under duress I had agreed to go to Adam's house late at night in order to protect George, once I was inside the confines of Adam's house there would be no escape, at least not until one o'clock Adam had promised as much, where I could not refuse anything Adam asked for fear of him telling George's dad who George really was, something Baxter would certainly think to be punishable by death. I dropped my head into my hands and sighed as I raked my fingers through my hair, as if trying to think of more places to get money for the growing number of people below the poverty line in Locksdale wasn't bad enough, like I needed teen drama to go along with it. Just then a blast of cold night wind hit me in the back, making me shiver and reminding me of the still open window, I frowned and balled my fists again. I jumped to my feet wanting to slam the window shut in my fury, but knowing full well that I couldn't do that without waking everyone up, I wondered why my parents hadn't heard that bang and come to investigate just as I reached the window and went to shut it.

My eyes spotted something coming down the lane, and once again I hastily shut my window and drew my curtains so that I wouldn't be seen. Headlights spilled a yellow beam of light into my room, telling me that it was a car approaching the house and sparking my interest though I could hardly say that I didn't have a guess as to who it was. Three car doors slammed in cannon and the sound of footsteps heading for the front door, I wasn't surprised or worried when the sound of the key turning in the lock followed this sound, I didn't need to hear anything more to know that Joey and my parents had returned from wherever they had been disappearing off to these past few weeks during the night time hours. Wondering just what the three of them had been doing I rushed to get changed into my pyjama's and climbed into bed just as they reached the landing and went their separate ways. I pondered everything that had happened today, everything that I had to do and everything that was stressing me out and frightening the living daylights out of me before my tiredness became too much for me and I succumbed to the need for sleep and once again fell into that all too familiar nightmare.

**Author note: so there it was, what do you reckon? I have to admit how good it felt to have Robin hit Adam, twice, it's been a long time coming and I was so thrilled to do it lol. Like I say, I hope that you enjoyed it because I did lol, thank you to everyone who has reviewed my work, it means more to me than I can say, much love! Please let me know what you think to this, I'd love to hear from you. :) x**


	10. Studies and solutions

**Author note: I'm sorry, so, so sorry for the delay, I've been revising obsessively and haven't had the chance to do much writing, but I sat my exam today so now I only have one more to go and that's not until next Thursday and I permitted myself today to finish off this chapter, here it is, its fairly long and hopefully makes up for my absence, if only a little. Thank you for your patience. Enjoy. :)**

**Chapter ten**

**On the bus**

Collapsing into a bus seat and throwing my bag down on the chair next to me, I permitted myself one large yawn into my hand, I was exhausted. Between our aborted attempt to infiltrate the Baxter mansion, finding Louise and taking her safely to Jess and Joe's, my argument with Adam and my reoccurring dreams, I was dead on my feet. Scooting along the seat so that I was sat next to the window and pulling my bag into my lap I tried not to think about last night too much, for if I did I would surely scream out in frustration or break something, or maybe both. I hated Adam's absolute control over me, I despised the creep and the idea that I had no choice but to go to his house tomorrow night and be at his mercy made me feel sick to my stomach, but that was just it, I had no choice, if I didn't go Adam would take those incriminating photo's to Baxter and put George's life in jeopardy, Adam had reminded me of as much last night. After waking up from my gawd awful dream, at the usual time of quarter past five, I had sent the rest of the night trying to find a loophole in my promise to Adam but I'd tried that a thousand times before over these past few weeks and I still couldn't think of any. The possibility that Adam might not have to guts to do it had been my only hope and that had fallen through now. I scowled at the front of the bus from my seat about midway down, earning a few funny looks from the other commuters but not really caring, if they had to put up with the amount of crap I did I was sure they'd be frowning too.

As the bus drove further away from my stop I felt my anger decrease somewhat as tiredness hit me again, it was difficult to remain angry, however justifiable the reason, this early in the morning and when operating on such little sleep. It was about quarter past eight now and I had gotten up at (I wont say woken up since I never fell back to sleep after my dream) around quarter to seven, right now I was on my way to college and cursing my inconvenient timetable as I went, Monday was one of my full days. You see, A Level timetables are funny things, when you go to enrol on your courses at the very start of you year you select a block for each subject, I was so busy trying to make sure that I didn't have any stupid gaps because my lessons were in blocks that didn't run one after the other, that I hardly stopped to think about the times they were at. It had worked, I had no stupid gaps and my lessons were all clumped together, however, I now had to get up on a Monday (along with several other days) morning for one my full days. I know that I had to get up every morning for school but after having as many weeks away from education as we do, it was difficult to get back into the swing of it.

George, the lucky git, was still fast asleep at home since he didn't have a lesson until second block. I had lessons all day and I resented the fact that he was allowed a ley in, so when I had gotten up I had ventured to his room with the intention of waking him up (cruel I know but if I had to get up early the pain of that would be lessened by Georges presence, besides, if I was going to have to go to Adams I wanted to make sure George knew how important he was to me first). I couldn't bring myself to wake him up though; he looked so adorable in sleep, spread out across his bed, the covers pulled halfway down his body revealing his bare chest, his blond hair tousled messily across his forehead and his face peaceful and content. I had settled for giving him a light kiss on the lips and leaving him be, exiting the room so he could sleep. Yes my dear friends, it's true, I'm going all soft now.

Though as I thought of the lucky so and so now I sort of wished I had woken him up, the jammy sod. I had been at college for about two weeks now and it felt as though I had been there my entire life, despite my body's desire to sleep in the early hours of the morning, an idea that contradicted my timetable. I doubted I'd be getting much sleep tonight either what with our second attempt at infiltrating the mansion; it would have to be done tonight as Baxter would be back soon and we had precious little time to spare. I was so focused on getting out of this tired bubble I was in and thinking about tonight that I hardly noticed that five minutes had passed and that the bus was pulling in at Will's stop. I was staring so hard out the window that I didn't notice he had gotten on the bus until he threw himself into the seat next to me, making me jump.

"Is it one of those mornings then, eh Robin?" he asked me as he grinned and turned in the seat to face me, taking in my exhausted expression.

"What?" I asked sharply and groggily, not getting what he meant and also mildly annoyed at how awake and fresh he looked even though he had stopped out just as late as I had.

Will laughed at my annoyed response and said "You look a bit dead to the world," in a cheery voice that should be illegal at this time of day.

"Insult me again and you will be, best friend or not." I muttered though Will still heard me and laughed again.

"And you call me a grumpy pessimist." He said as he nudged me with his thick brown construction boots, Will had college today as well, only he was taking a different course to the rest of us, rather than A Levels Will had opted to take a vocational course in construction specializing in joinery, since he was so skilled with wood, he also had a work placement at the builders yard he had been working at over the summer rather than setting up another one since it was easier. Will's hours were more liberal than mine, he was only required to come into college two or three times a week for lessons, the rest of the time he was on placement.

"You are," I confirmed for him with a small smile breaking through the fog that surrounded me as a product of lack of sleep "I'm just tired."

We talked like that for the duration of the bus journey and by the time it pulled into the bus station in town centre I was actually in a good mood and considerably more awake, despite being a grumpy pessimist Will always knew how to make me smile. It was just as we were waiting to get off the bus, I stopped to let a woman and her children get out of their seats ahead of me, when I spotted a discarded copy of the Locksdale Enquirer on an empty seat. The headline caught my eye, 'Outlaw Raid Continues', without thinking I snatched up the paper and folded it under my arm, thanked the bus driver and exited the bus with a suddenly serious looking Will walking behind me. We walked away from the crowds and found a seat in an unused bus bay so that we could sit down and read the paper, I still had fifteen minutes until my lesson started.

I unfolded the paper and read the offending article, unsurprised but annoyed by what I read. Apparently, late last night my outlaws and I infiltrated the office of 'local businessman' Charles Beverly (father of Courtney Beverly) and stole a significant sum of money from a low security safe there which we managed to break the hinges of (much like how Will gets us into places by braking the hinges of a door with a screwdriver, or arrowhead if we don't have a screwdriver on us), even though at the time the crime occurred the other outlaws and I were trying to brake into the Baxter mansion. A reporter who was first at the scene (it never failed to amaze me how far a reporter would go to get a story, I mean turning up at the dead of night at a crime scene and then spending the next few hours typing the story up so it can make the morning paper, don't they have lives?) claimed that we were working our way through all the major businessmen in town and speculated about who would be the next victim. The reporter also managed to get a quote from a spokesperson from Baxter Industries, who wished to remain anonymous, asking them about the previous brake in at the offices of Baxter Industries, which said that 'Mr. Baxter has been informed of the break in and the loss of money, valuable items and documents, he has insisted upon heightened security at both his offices and his mansion home to prevent any further theft from these 'outlaws' who have been plaguing him for months.'

I frowned at the paper in my hands, furious that we were getting the blame for this and how the article had painted the story as though we were low life pick pockets, even though they knew that we only stole from those who could afford to spare the money and we only gave to those who needed it. It painted us as criminals who were in the wrong, and it wasn't even us doing it, someone else was copying our style, possibly with help and doing all of this in our name. I wondered about the stolen money and scowled, I doubted that that money would go to the poor and I cursed these people for doing this, if we had gotten there first we could have given it to a good cause. Once again worried about Baxter slowly turning the town against us I turned to face Will as he said in a low voice,

"We thought about it, but we dismissed it because they didn't have enough to spare, and now we're getting the blame and without even the money to give to the poor." He said his expression serious and irritated.

"I know," I said as I folded the paper in half again, one word jumping out at me from the print as it did, that word was documents, I wondered, briefly, why it stood out to me so much "it's getting ridiculous now, we don't know what they want or who they are or where that money is going. We're confronting Jess and Joe tomorrow night, we can't do it now it wouldn't be right, but I can't stand this not knowing, even if they aren't selling our secrets which I'm hoping is the truth, maybe they'll know something. They have their fingers well and truly on the pulse of this town."

Will nodded and got up, I did the same and tucked the paper into my bag "I'll save it for the others, see what they make of it." I said though I didn't know what else they would be able to tell me, it was the same as TV report, they dressed like us, they used our methods and they took money and other important things from the offices of the towns wealthy citizens, just like us. There were imposters out there pretending to be us and we didn't know what they wanted.

Together Will and I walked out of the bus station and stopped to say bye "forget about the article for now, Robin," Will instructed me "just get on with today and we'll talk to the others about it later since it looks like we're going to have to be more careful tonight."

I nodded at his words but still frowned, I hated this imposter thing, like we didn't have enough on our plates right now. Will and I went our separate ways, him heading for the Construction Site and me heading up towards the 6th Form, or A Level, building. As I walked down the hill towards the building I thought of the long journey back and wished John had college today, having recently passed his driving test my recently turned eighteen year old friend was legally able to drive and so often picked us all up for college when he was in and took us all home again, but only if he was in college since he was working the rest of the time. I made it to my Sociology class on time and took my seat in-between the two girls I spoke to during lesson, I enjoyed Sociology immensely, it was easily one of my favourite subjects now.

For those of you who don't know, A Levels are quite different from the other courses you can take at college, vocational ones like the one Will takes have a very laid back timetable and you only specialized in one subject, which in Will's case is joinery. Apprenticeships, of course, involve working and learning the trade while getting paid to do it. A Level's are more closely resembled to school, a student selects three or four (four is standard) classes, some of them they might have studied at school, like English, and some that they might not have, like sociology, the subjects are generally quite difficult and unlike vocational students you're in college quite a lot. My chosen A Levels are Sociology, because I found it fascinating on visiting day and I'm curious to see how far the college administrators let them talk about social class and control and Marxism, in a town such as this. I have also taken English language and Literature combined, because I always enjoyed it in school despite my eccentric teacher, Geography again because I enjoyed it and I honestly didn't know what else to choose and Law, because I've lost count of how many people have told me that I ought to be good at it and that it would put a good use to my confidence and cocky attitude if I went into law.

I sat dutifully through an hour and a half lesson of Sociology, where my tutor Chrystal (you call the teachers by their first names here as part of a more relaxed setting, at first it was awkward but you just get used to it) told us all about nationality and socialisation. I found it interesting but was more than willing to leave the classroom and head off to my next lesson, which was law. I had to admit though I was worried about getting left behind in the subject, we were discussing law making currently though so it wasn't too boring and I could keep up. I phoned Louise in my break between Sociology and Law and asked her how she was settling in, she said it was fine and that Joe and Jess's parents were okay with her staying there, which was good. She hung up because she was going back to her house to collect her things and pick up her car; she was moving out of her house because without her father and only on her hairdressers wage she couldn't afford the rent. She also had to start planning her dad's funeral, I gave her my condolences again and told her that if she needed anything she could always ring me; she thanked me and hung up.

After an hour and a half of Law it was lunch and so I met up with Will (who was still in college) and George (who had just come in last lesson) for dinner, which was a bit slow to get going since we had to wait for George to wash red paint off his cheek after I pointed it out to him with a laugh. George, much to his father's disgust, had not only opted to come to Locksdale College rather than the posh Highgate College where all the Haves go, or the Baxter Academy, we were still trying to think of a way to bring that one down, but hadn't had much success. Baxter found it embarrassing that his son was attending the almost penniless, Have Not college rather than one of the others, he didn't like the way the other Have parents laughed at this fact and said (behind closed doors of course) that Baxter couldn't control his impulsive son, or so George told me. To add insult to injury George had opted to take what Baxter would dub, soft or worthless A Levels, though George said he would have taken these subjects no matter where he studied. George took, English combined, Psychology (the only subject he chose that his father mildly approved of), Modern History since he found it interesting and Fine Art. I shouldn't have been surprised when George had told me he enjoyed the subject, Art I mean, the boy could do pretty much everything so why not add being a good artist to the list? He was a good artist as well, he had shown me some of his work from GCSE and I was blown away by it, I hadn't even know that he had taken the subject at school and I was amazed by how talented he was, modest as ever George brushed my compliments off but there was no denying he had skill.

So once George was paint free the three of us went into town for dinner before splitting up again an hour later, after joking banter, Greggs' sandwiches and laughter so that Will could head back to construction and we could get back to the A Level building. The newspaper was left forgotten in the bottom of my bag and I wasn't bothered about that since it was best to talk about it later when everyone was there. Next lesson George had Modern History, which he had told me was about Russian history at the moment, and I went off to Geography where I sat next to a girl I recognised from Primary school, Danny I believe she was called and who I happened to know had had a huge crush on Will all through Primary and then Secondary school where she had been in his form. I smiled and worked with her in group work and after another hour and a half I left to meet up with my friends. I walked past all the congregating students waiting inside the building and headed outside, the weather was still pretty warm and as a result I was only dressed in a pair of black leggings, a long print top and a black cardie. I walked outside into the sun and searched for my friends, it didn't take me long to find them, they were probably the most boisterous group waiting outside the college; I smiled when I saw them. Jack and Jess were stood talking a laughing as the boys, in this instant Joe, Will (who had walked up from the construction site to see us all before he headed home for the day) and John (who I was surprised to see). The three of them were having a very loud and animated argument about something that I couldn't quite understand.

"Hi," I greeted Jess and Jack as I walked up to the pair of them who were slyly putting distance between themselves and our loud friends.

"Hi," Jack greeted with a warm smile, in her arms she held a large blue ring binder I knew to be filled with all her science notes, which told me that she had had either Chemistry or Biology last lesson. Jack, who wanted to become a doctor, had chosen her A Level subjects around that dream, though in addition to Chemistry and Biology she had also taken Health and Social Care, which would be useful to her, and English combined which she had enjoyed at school.

"Hey, Robin," Jess said and I smiled at her, honestly unable to believe that there was even the faintest possibility that she was double-crossing us, despite her and Joe's shady nature they were the most amazing people and we all trusted them with our lives. I hated having to be cautious around them but I knew it was necessary.

"How come you two are down here then?" I asked with a nod in Joe's direction, John was pulling him into a playful headlock at which Joe started to curse and Jess laughed, I was sure that it would make his day if my biggest friend could see the look she wore as she watched.

Jess and Joe both took a vocational subject, Business Studies, and rarely came down here, which was why I was so surprised to see them both. After college, and hopefully after all their dodgy dealing and thieving became unnecessary, Jess and Joe wanted to open a business together, they had plenty of great ideas and were anxious to get started, this revelation had shocked their family considerably though as they highly doubted that the two of them would be able to get along long enough to keep a business going. It didn't surprise us though, even though the two of them fought like cat and dog all of us knew just what a good team they made and knew that if they put their minds to this business and the economical climate got better, they would have no problem.

"Ah, it's boring down at vocation, we saw Will and John coming up here and decided to come and see you all, though I think Joe just wanted to mess about for a bit and embarrass me." Jess said pleasantly before turning to face her brother when she said the last two words and directing them sharply at him. Jack and I laughed as Joe pulled a face at Jess and her expression became menacing, we both knew that Jess wouldn't let him get away with that and he would pay for it later.

"Hey, Robin," Joe shouted as he spotted me and waved, awkwardly from John's headlock, the other two turned around then and spotted me, they smiled in greeting and John released Joe so that they could walk over here, grinning at me as he did.

"Where'd you come from?" I asked John as he approached, dressed in his everyday clothes, John, like Will, took a vocation in construction however John's was in bricklaying rather than joinery, he still worked at the builders yard, like Will he used it as his placement. John was only in his first year of college, the same as Mark; despite how both of them were a year older than us school wise, both of them had gone straight into work last year rather than further education since they couldn't afford not to work. This year however we had managed to convince the pair to join us at college and they had applied and gotten in with us.

"Lazy sod here," John said as he nudged Will, who wasn't expecting the motion from our extra strong friend and stumbled because of it "couldn't be bothered to catch the bus and rang me to come and pick him up. The van's parked in the student lot." He explained and I nodded in understanding.

"I should have guessed I suppose." I teased Will who folded his arms and started to explain,

"Hey, it's not like I was tearing him away from anything, you know you'd do it too if you could, only the rest of you A Level boffs* have still got another lesson to sit through."

Jack and I shot Will a dark look which he brushed off with a self satisfied grin, at which Jack hit him with her folder, Will looked playfully offended and the pair proceeded to flirt/fight, because that's what it was, outrageous flirting that only the pair of them couldn't see. Joe rolled his eyes at them and Jess turned to John.

"You couldn't give us a lift home too, could you John? We're finished for the day now and you're going our way anyway." She asked and John nodded, his gaze meeting Jess' causing him to get all flustered and shy like he did whenever she spoke to him directly. I smiled because it was just so cute, John really fancied Jess.

"Yeah, sure," John managed to gush before going for a look of nonchalance that he just couldn't pull off, despite his size and playful nature John was one of the sweetest people I had ever met, however, he had never had much luck with girls, bless him. Jess smiled knowingly at him and thanked him. Joe was making gipping motions behind their backs until he spotted something and said,

"Bloody hell, what is this, a couple's event?"

Confused by his words all six of us turned to look in the direction Joe was looking with obvious exasperation on his face, Mark had just exited the A Level building and was currently looking a little pink faced and talking, apparently nervously, to a petit redhead who nodded politely as he spoke and then laughed at something that he said. I felt a smile form on my face as I recognised her, my proud happiness only spoiled a little by the awful dropping sensation I felt when I realised where I knew her from. It was Suzanna, the girl from the past who had worked for Mark's parents as a servant, who he had fancied for quite a while and who had stood by us in the end when it came to a fight. I smiled knowingly at him even though I still couldn't shake the ominous feeling I got as another aspect of the strange dream/visitation materialised in my real life, making it seem more and more real and unsettling me.

Mark bid Suzanna farewell and she went off to join a group of her friends who openly assessed Mark as he walked away from her, from the looks on their faces he rated highly, that surprised me quite a bit, as with all my male friends, I never really thought about Mark in terms of his looks. I supposed now that I thought about it that Mark was good-looking, with his mousy blond hair, green eyes and tasteful glasses that made him look intelligent and dignified.

"Ay, ay," Joe called loudly, cupping his hands around his mouth, causing a few people to stare and Jess to shoot him a warning look, which of course he ignored "look whose pulled."

Will, Jack and John snorted at Joe's words and I rolled my eyes even though I smiled, I hated the term pulled, it was demeaning. Mark flushed a bright red colour as a few of our fellow students looked at him, causing Joe's grin to widen.

"Shut up," Mark hissed as he approached us and tried to make himself small. I smiled along with the others.

"Aw, come on Mark don't be modest, she's pretty, you should be proud." Will teased Mark with a nudge, Mark scowled at him and I felt my grin slip when I spotted the dark circles still under Mark's eyes, he still wasn't sleeping much then.

"That she is; what's her name then?" Joe asked as he looked over at Suzanna "so that when she gets bored of you I can get in there."

Jack, Jess and I made doubtful noises "yeah, alright Joe, because anyone's got the patience to deal with your immature crap." Jess said, attempting to cut him down but since Joe has an ego the size of a jumbo jet that didn't happen.

"Keep dreaming," I told Joe before turning back to Mark and saying "well, come on, who is she?" I asked even though I knew already, of course I couldn't say that out loud as I'd have to explain where I knew her from, somehow, I didn't think telling them all that I had met her in the past where she was a servant in Mark's old house who he happened to have a huge crush on, would go down too well, unless I wanted to be carted away to a padded cell. So obviously I had to ask the appropriate questions.

"Her name is Suze," Mark told me, clearly more willing to talk to me about this than anyone else, I could take the Mickey with the best of them but I knew when something was supposed to be serious "she's a friend," he said meaningfully and exaggeratedly, addressing the others this time "she's in my Physics class and she used to live next door to me when I lived with my parents, she works in their shop from time to time as well." I watched as Mark explained this to us and a flash of pain shot through his eyes, I knew that talking about his family hurt him, after everything that I had seen in the 'past' I had gently asked Mark about why he lived in a flat on his own and where were his parents.

He had, slightly reluctantly, explained to me that his family had kicked him out as soon as he finished year eleven because they thought it best that he ventured into the big wide world and fended for himself, it would be character building they had said. Mark had done as asked but they very rarely spoke to him since they were so busy trying to pull themselves up into Locksdale's none existent Middle-class, they owned a shop and were starting to accumulate a small amount of wealth, well, by the standards of the Southside anyway, and according to Mark this made them think that they were above the rest of us. His dad was also a former member of the B.A and they thought that they were owed a better standard of life because of that and were closer to Baxter's class than the rest of us Have Not's. Annoyed that his parents never so much as paid him a visit or returned his phone calls while he struggled to stay alive and off the streets Mark had visited them, managing to catch them while they were all at home and hosting a dinner party, he had stormed in, in a very un-Mark fashion, and told them exactly what he thought of them, their dreams of becoming Haves and the B.A in front of all their guests. Needless to say they hadn't spoken to him since, they disowned him and Mark had been trying to keep his head down after openly criticising the B.A for almost six months before he found us, frightened of what they would do if they found out.

"She seems nice," I commented as I looked over in her direction and spotted her watching Mark, an admiring smile on her lips "you should invite her to do something with us some time."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask if you all wanted to go to the cinema or something." Jess said as she too looked at Suze and smiled when she noticed what the girl was doing "so long as she doesn't mind horror films, she can come too." Jess said with a grin and I rolled my eyes, she had a crazy love for creepy horror films and none of us had managed yet to talk her into letting us watch another genre at the cinema, it was impossible to win an argument against Jess.

Jack, Will, John, Mark and I all shared a look, each of us thinking about our suspicions about Jess and Joe and how uncomfortable it would get if we let this distrust linger between us and ignored it. I didn't like this, but I really couldn't do anything about it just yet.

"Sounds good to me," Jack said tucking a strand of short black hair behind her ear, from where it had become displaced when she was messing around with Will, who nodded his agreement with her words. John also agreed to inviting Suze to go with us and Mark seemed pleased that we were so quick to accept his 'friend', since he was wearing a grateful smile as he regarded us.

Joe however, groaned "aw come on, no, she can't come, you're all breaking off into couples and I'm the only one going stag, how is that going to be fun for me when you're all getting off in the back of the cinema? I need Mark to go alone, at least if he's dateless too I won't feel so bad." he complained loudly and frowned at the insult.

"Only Robin and George are a couple, Joe," Jack reminded him as she folded her arms across her chest.

"And we won't be getting off at the back of the cinema." I told him through gritted teeth, he was so callous at times.

"Well, maybe Mark and Suze are going to be on a date as well, but they're the only ones, you won't be the only one without a date." Jack mused and beside her Will deflated at her words, clearly having hoped that this would be an excuse to take her out on a date even if the rest of us were there, I shot him a raised eyebrow look that told him to get asking, he shook his head and me and I sighed.

Joe made a doubtful noise at the same time that Mark hissed "she is not my date, we're just friends."

"All right, Mark, whatever you say," Joe said dismissively before turning back to rest of us and saying "look, I'm fine with you all going and being together, but I just don't want you being all couple-ie all the time, its not right and it makes me feel uncomfortable."

"No one cares what you think;" Jess told her brother bluntly "we're all just going as friends for crying out loud, get over it."

Silence followed Jess' words while some of the lads in our group, namely John and Will, contemplated how depressing going to the cinema with the girl's they fancied as only 'friends' was and revelled in their bad luck. Well, I thought as I regarded their gutted expressions, it would be easier if they simply asked them out, but no, the pair of them just didn't work like that. Joe glared at his sister, who matched the gaze equally, soon the atmosphere was so heavy that I could actually feel the discomfort around me, Mark shifted uncomfortably and Jack suddenly and with much more excitement than necessary, said,

"Look there's George."

The awkward atmosphere vanished instantly, around me at least, and my heart lifted the way it always did when someone mentioned George, I was still unable to restrain the pure happiness I felt at the mere mention of him. Unable to stop the wide smile that spread across my face I turned to search for my blond boyfriend. My eyes scanned the crowds of students and quickly I found him, he was standing near the front doors to the college, dressed in a red and dark blue checked shirt and dark blue jeans, his stance was casual and his hands were buried deep in his jeans pockets as he talked politely with someone. My eyes then landed on a second, though this time female, blonde head and I felt my stomach drop and my expression twist into a scowl. Great.

"Urgh," Jess said behind me in disgust as her gaze also landed on the person George was talking to, urgh didn't even begin to sum it up; I thought as I subconsciously folded my arms across my chest and watched the scene before me.

Stood there, next to George as if it were her rightful place, was the snooty and ever unpleasant Grace Gisborn, dressed in clothes that I was willing to bet cost more than any one of the student's families monthly income and were obviously the height of fashion. Her long blonde hair was straightened to such perfection that the wind seemed to have absolutely no effect on it (a fact that on its own would have half the female population hating her), her hip was cocked in a seductive fashion and her expression was one of obvious flirtation, it didn't look cute and sweet like it had on Jack and Will's faces, she was deathly serious about this and so it looked vulgar and whore-ish on her. Her expression was a stark contrast to her outfit, which presented the image of her being smart and successful, her face ruined the image as right now it wasn't in check, you could see quite plainly the reason behind her presence here and it made me feel about ready to rip her head off.

On the very first day of college I had been beyond surprised to see her here and so had everyone else, despite the fact that many of them had never met her before. None of them needed to have, just by simply looking at her the whole student population could tell what her social background was, it was obvious in the way she spoke, dressed and presented herself (with smugness and a sense of misplaced superiority) that she was most definitely not one of us. And that baffled people, I mean why wouldn't it? It didn't make any obvious sense for her to be here, our town was clearly divided, all the way through our lives we were kept in what was almost segregation and college was no exception. Kids who came from Locksdale Secondary went to either Locksdale College or Baxter Academy, if they were so desperate to serve Baxter and climb the nonexistent social ladder (which was really more of a social lift, one whose gilded doors would only open for you if you lived on the West Side of the town) that they didn't mind being beaten up by their old friends for it, they never went to Highgate College. The toft kids on the other hand either went to Highgate or the Academy, both of which boasted a bulging budget to be spent on their education and had excellent pass rates. They could go to Locksdale if they wanted to, Mark, myself and especially George were all proof of that since we had all attended Locksdale Upper, however, up until now no one ever had opted to go to Locksdale College when they had another choice, I mean why would they? Locksdale College doesn't have half the resources or money that the others have, we only come here because there is no alternative, or rather, no alternative that to which we will be able to look in the mirror on a morning after choosing.

However, many people had speculated on the day of Grace's scandalous arrival, Grace wasn't from Locksdale she was from Nottingham, how was she to know how it all worked? Then the serious gossipers got involved, telling people of how Grace was a friend of the Baxter's and how she would know from them which college to go to. So, the students decided that Grace must have some other reason for coming here, since Jack who had also just moved here from out of town had known where she belonged, though the gossipers had yet to figure out what had brought Grace here.

From where I stood, it was obvious what Grace Gisborn of the Nottingham Gisborn's wanted, the same thing she had wanted when I first met her at the Masquerade Ball and the same thing she had wanted in the 'past', George's undivided attention and absolute power. My surprise had then turned to fear as I remembered who Grace had been in the past, the true Gisborne and evil mastermind behind most of the scheming who had told me Marin was dead when he wasn't and tried to have me and my friends killed. She had been a real dangerous foe last time and her presence here disgruntled me, the evidence that my trip to the 'past' had been real was starting to stack up in an alarmingly large pile, which was good news for my sanity but not for George. If everything that happened in the past was true to a degree (there were minor changes here for example Suze wasn't a servant but rather worked for Mark's family etc) then Grace's sudden arrival here, just like it had in the past, preceded her scheming and ultimately Marin's (George's) death. If the past was true she even had a part in it, having come up with the idea to send the warriors on their first mission, and that that be to kill me and my fellow outlaws. What if that were the case here? What if she was the one behind it all and second on the big baddy list after Baxter? I had then promptly dismissed that thought, deciding that I was being stupid again by taking the 'visit' to the 'past' seriously.

However, something about her hadn't sat right with me. Still didn't. I had decided that I would keep an eye on her, try to keep everyone away from her and let George know of my belief that she might be the incarnation/descendent of Guy of Gisborne, rather than Adam. I hadn't had the chance to tell him about that yet, to be honest I couldn't see it going well as I knew here George viewed Grace as something of an irritating friend, he had known her for a while and I didn't think he'd take to me telling him that his friend was the incarnation of a evil villain. I didn't care though, he had the right to know and I wanted him safe, I'd take his being angry at me any day over his being dead. Besides, I didn't like him talking to that vixen, she only wanted to be with him because it was acceptable, at least that's what she had told me in the past. I scolded myself mentally for thinking that again and I pulled an annoyed face.

"She doesn't give up, I'll give her that," Jack said with obvious disgust in her voice, she stood at my right hand side where Jess stood at my left, both of them glaring at Grace, understanding half of my plight in a way that now lad ever could. Jack remembered me telling her about Grace after the Ball, and her opinion wasn't very high of her.

"Pushy is more like it," Jess commented as she folded her arms "she never gives the poor boy five minutes to himself."

I felt my gaze narrow and anger rise up in my chest as Grace appeared to ask George a question, I guessed that she had asked him to do something or go somewhere as her expression was one of 'of come on you might as well'. A sly smile graced my lips as I watched George's obvious refusal, he was being polite about it I could tell but he was shrugging off her request, again.

"George can handle her," I said smugly as I watched Grace take his refusal seemingly on the chin, though through the balling of her fists and the tight look in her eyes I could tell it bothered here, I doubted she was used to rejection and George had been rejecting her suggestions to go somewhere for weeks now. Seems little miss priss needs to get over herself, I thought as I watched her make it out to be this great shame that George couldn't go with her.

"I bet you could too if she overstepped the line," Jess said with a laugh "she'd be too afraid to break a nail or something like that."

"She seems that sort of type." Jack agreed. I gave a shot laugh but didn't say anything since I was thinking about the fight I had had with Grace in the past, I knew that if that really had happened she wasn't as soft as she looked.

Joe appeared next to his sister hearing our conversation and said "Hey Robin, you know since George can't have her and keeps telling her to shove off, do you think he could send her my way? Because she is fit as…" Joe trailed off at the look on his sister's face, it probably matched my own since I was looking at him furiously feeling sickened and repulsed by the idea of Grace going out with Joe. Even he could do better than her, callous attitude included.

"She wouldn't look your way in a million years, Joe, you've got to have money to interest her sort, money and power." Jack told him, she wasn't being unkind, she was simply telling the truth, Grace was too shallow to look at anything other than a persons bank balance and social standing, her actions over the past few weeks had proved as much. She strutted around the college in her All Saints gear like she owned the place, her plastic clones never far behind her, all of them popular Have Not girls trying to get a boost into the world of the Haves. Jess, Jack and I called them Have WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends)*, desperate to grab themselves a rich boyfriend and tagging along with Grace so as to learn from her.

"Hey, you and I both know that I can get hold of money." Joe said flashing a cheeky smile that made sure we had know doubt about his meaning. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah but can you get social standing, Joe?" Jess asked him sharply "can you turn yourself into a Have? If you can I'd like to know how, we'd make a fortune selling magic like that."

"She's not worth the effort, Joe, she treats everyone around here like dirt on her shoe, and she's only here for one reason anyway." I told him and everyone, including John, Will and Mark but baring Joe, made noises of agreement, everyone had heard of or been on the receiving end of Grace's superior attitude since she arrived her. Miss Priss had a sharp, biting tong on her and didn't hesitate to put us Have Not's in our place.

Joe made a noise of agreement and said something like 'she's still fir though', I hardly heard him though as George managed to extract himself from a coaxing Grace and waved her goodbye before jogging over to where we stood, I smiled at him as he approached and he kissed me on the cheek as he reached us. My gaze locked with Grace's over George's shoulder and she threw me a cold, hateful look which I more than matched, before turning back to her Have WAG 'friends' who were also glaring at me from under their mascara smothered eyelashes. Grace had been like that ever since she got here and found out that I was George's girlfriend, if I was right and the only reason she had come here was to get her claws into him for her own prosperity and because it was socially expected, then I was certainly a flaw in her plan. At first I had been worried that she had recognised me, that she remembered me from when George introduced us at the Ball and then made the connection between that and when I was grabbed by Baxter for attempting to steal his solid gold goblet. I was worried that she might have figured out that I was the same Robin who had spent time with George at the Ball and been shown to be Robin Hood later, though it seemed I needn't have feared since she didn't seem to recognise me. I shouldn't have been surprised, girls like her never remembered the names of people they dubbed to be lower than them, she wouldn't have bothered to commit my name to memory as she wouldn't have seen me as important.

"Hi," George greeted everyone, pulling my attention away from the glaring Grace and back to him.

I laced my fingers in-between his and returned his greeting along with the others, I smiled at him even though I could still feel Grace's gaze boring into the back of my head. I shifted uncomfortably, unable to shake the feeling that there was more to Grace than I was letting myself believe, that she wasn't just a snooty girl who was after my boyfriend, that she really was an evil schemer and bad guy of legend. It was the same feeling that had told me not to tell the others about the thing with the 'past' and the same feeling that had told me not to come clean about the dreams when Mark did, only this time it was telling me to do something rather than not to, it was telling me to find out more about Grace, so that I could convince myself of her dangerousness.

"We're going to the cinema with Mark and his new girlfriend," Jess told George as Mark denied the title of girlfriend "you coming?"

"Sure when are we going?" George asked with a grin in Mark's direction, who didn't look too happy that there was another person here to take the mick out of him now.

"Don't know yet," John said, "we've still got to decide."

"Okay," George said with a little laugh, everyone then went back to their own conversations, I noticed that Jess and Jack were discussing how Grace was still watching me "I was wondering," George said as he turned to face me, suddenly looking a little nervous "if you were doing anything during your afternoon off Wednesday?" George asked, here was another thing about our college, they gave us Wednesday afternoons off to participate in enrichment activities such as learning another language, though to be honest with you I didn't know a single person who actually did take part in that, most just used the time to go spend time with friends. This was also one of the few positives about my timetable, I only had one lesson first thing Wednesday, English, meaning that I had longer off. George's timetable had this convenience too.

I shook my head "No, I don't think so." I told him and a smile split across George's face, causing my heart to lift and me to copy the motion even though I didn't know why he was smiling yet.

"Good," George said "because I was thinking that we could, maybe go to Marian's Bay for the afternoon, you know, catch the bus over and visit it before the cold weather gets here?"

"Sounds good to me," I said genuinely liking the idea, it would be nice to get away from Locksdale for a bit and just to spend some time with George, it also gave me something to look forward to.

"Great," George said, his smile widening and his grip on my hand tightening a little as I continued to smile at him, overwhelmed by the love I felt just looking at him and already looking forward to Wednesday.

"Oi, love birds," Joe called "you and the other clever clogs are going in."

I looked around us an noticed that everyone was indeed starting to make their way inside, there was no bell system at the college and students had to keep track of the time or else miss their next lesson, well, that our just keep an eye on what the other students were doing.

"Best get to English then," Mark commented, hitching his bag further up his shoulder.

Jack sighed "I'm too tired." She complained, dropping her head onto a delighted looking Will in a dramatic display of exhaustion.

"Your not the only one." I said as my tiredness hit me again and I groaned internally at the thought of another late night, however good the cause it still looked unappealing when operating on as little sleep as I was.

"Come on," George said pulling on my hand and grinning down at me in a way that would be enough to convince me to follow him through the gates of Hell never mind the English classroom.

"Fine," I said in a sulking voice, Jack moved away from Will and stood beside us and Mark as we made motions to go to our lesson.

"We'll see you all later then," Will said with a mocking smile since we still had an hour and a half of college "when you're finished here."

"Yup, have fun." John called with a wave in our direction as he, Joe, Jess and Will headed towards the student car park with smug grins on their faces.

"Oh we will," George said as I grinned at him and the four of us turned and headed towards our English Combined class, joining the crowds of students heading back inside.

"I'm sure," I said doubtfully though I was still smiling and holding onto George's hand tightly, up ahead I could see Grace, she looked over her shoulder at me with a look of disgust that George didn't see, I met her cold gaze without so much as flinching though I could tell she thought I would since it was such a killer glare. She clearly didn't know me very well. Once again that nagging feeling that there was something more to her, that she was dangerous and that I needed to find out why, pestered me, I knew full well that there was something off about Grace and I couldn't stomach the idea of just leaving her to get on with her plans, whatever they were. Suddenly I knew what to do, how to find out more about Grace, she had been in George's life for a long time according to him and I was instantly reminded of the other family friend of the Baxters, a family friend who had been in George's life for probably just as long as Grace only had been attempted to be removed from it recently. Stephanie, surely she could tell me about Grace and either confirm my suspicions or put my mind at rest.

I kept my gaze locked with Grace's until she turned back around, I would go and see Stephanie, if she's talk to me since we had never really gotten on, and even if she told me that Grace was just a pussy cat that fancied herself as a tiger and could do no real harm, at least I would know. Content with my decision and deciding that I would do it tomorrow, I followed George, Jack and Mark to the classroom unable, once again, to shake the feeling of dread.

***Boff for those of you who don't know, is a short for boffin and a term used in slang to describe a smart person, I wasn't sure who would know this.**

***WAG is generally a term used to describe the wife or girlfriend of a (possibly Premier League) Footballer, this you may of may not know, I just put it here just in case.**

**Author note: I'm a little iffy with the end, my mind was starting to switch off by that point and I don't really like it that much but I know that I cant not post today so there it was, let me know what you think since I'm a little anxious about it, do you like all my chosen subjects for my characters, how about George as an artist, does it suit him? Let me know your thoughts on the chapter please, since I love to hear them. Once again I am so sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :) x**


	11. According to plan

**Author note: feel free to hate me because I know I've done it again, I'm late once more updating and I feel crap for it, but you know, I really didn't want to publish some of the crap I've been writing since my last update. Today I sat down, looked at the screen thinking 'gawd, I've got to work with that tripe again' because there is nothing worse for writers block than trying to work with a piece of text you've written that you don't really like. So, to deal with this I scrapped everything I had previously written for chapter eleven and wrote this, weeks of writers block coming out in very many hours of writing. Thank god for Wednesdays is all I can say, because I wouldn't have been able to do this were it not my day off. So here we go, a fresh and pretty long chapter eleven. Hope you like it. x**

**Chapter eleven**

**Baxter mansion**

My ears prickled as I thought I heard something move behind me, reacting instinctively I quickly reached out for George, who was leading the way ahead of me, and pulled him back into the shadows with me, our backs pressed against the wall in an effort to stay hidden. I was well aware that I was more jumpy than usual, my senses had gone into overdrive the second we had exited John's van and my heart beat was accelerated far beyond its normal rate. But, as I stared out into the darkness of the corridor where George and I hid, scanning the area with incredible precision for even the slightest sign of movement, I knew that it wasn't without justification, going into the mansion at any time was near enough life threatening but to do so now, with supposedly upped security and in near complete darkness (which worked both with and against us) was especially dangerous. I didn't want to be the one responsible for George being found out, I'd been working too hard over these past few weeks and doing so many loathsome tasks that if I did cause it through some stupid mistake of my own I would likely kill someone, Adam probably. Also, there was far too much at stake here, the potential amount that we could bring in tonight would be invaluable to our dwindling funds and the struggling people of the Southside, who once again stood not too far away from the winter months, with their rising gas prices and regarded them with open dread. We couldn't be caught, we couldn't fail and I wasn't about to let anyone down.

I should have guessed that all was fine when George didn't tense or look worried when I grabbed him; this was the second time since we had entered the mansion that I had stopped him, thinking that I had heard something. George's hearing was superior to even mine, largely more keen and much more accurate, if George couldn't hear anything then there was nothing there to hear. Mark had speculated about this more than once, why some of us were better at certain things than others, he guessed that in George's case it was because George had always been a good listener and that that had been amplified upon the change, or whatever it was we went through the night we had the dream. His theory made sense to me, knowing George as I now did I had no problem believing that he was a good listener, a few months ago I would have scoffed at the idea, but now I knew him better and I could see that that was probably true. However, that brought me back to wondering about why it was that George had yet to hear Adam in my room, because with his hearing he ought to have been able to, other than the obvious reason that he was asleep during the visits, I had decided, firmly, that whoever had said that we only hear what we want to hear must have known what they were talking about.

George did not look worried, at least from what I could make out in almost no light, if anything I thought that he was smiling at my overreaction, which annoyed me somewhat, I wasn't doing this to be cute or endearing (two words that would never fit comfortably in a description of me) I was doing it because it was necessary to be careful. Irritated and deciding that there was nothing following us, this time, I removed my left arm from where it was across George's chest, creating a barrier from everything else and pinning him to the wall. Unlike me, George seemed to be thrilled by the prospect of braking into the mansion, I didn't know if it was for the good we were going to do, the actual excitement of it or because it was a chance the stick the two fingers up at his dad, I didn't know, but George was almost at ease here and it seemed that failure had not crossed his mind. Weird, I know. It's all very roles reversed since I'm usually the reckless one (though this is hardly reckless) and George is usually the cautious one, the conclusion I had drawn from this was that we had internally aged about thirty years or so, and that I had mellowed in my old age and that George was experiencing a midlife crisis. That wasn't to say that I wasn't enjoying myself, I loved the thrill of sneaking around, experiencing potential danger and having a bit of action in my life as much as the next outlaw, my heart was still racing and I was filled with the kind of euphoria and adrenaline that you can only get in these situations, it was brilliant. But there was still far too much at stake here.

Still grinning George watched me as I folded my arms across my chest and frowned, irritated by his lack of worry, and waiting for him to carry on leading the way. This was one of the many reasons that we, as a group, liked having George in the gang, in addition to being a nice guy and having a good sense of humour (which you need to have around us lot) he knew the Baxter mansion like the back of his hand and could get us in, around and out relatively easily, though he couldn't predict where the guards would be stationed or when any changes would be made. I, obviously appreciated George's presence for additional reasons, but that's a thought for another time. Half laughing at my obvious annoyance, half wanting to quell it, George lent in gave me a sweet kiss on the lips and offered me a dazzling smile, that even in the dark you couldn't help but admire. I felt my resolve wavering but didn't show it, I kept my arms folded and gave him a small smile in return, which it turns out was all he needed, as he grinned at me and carried on sneaking down the corridor. I followed suit, coming to a stop behind George when he reached the end of the corridor, looked both left and right to make sure the coast was clear before turning left and carrying on. For good measure I checked over my shoulder once more, gripping my bow tightly as I did so, however all I could see behind me was darkness and so I headed after George, unable to shake my unease and guessing it was just because I was in the Baxter mansion, and how things never seemed to end well when I did come here.

We had gotten into the mansion without any trouble, we followed the same routine as last night with only a few minor changes as a result of the article in the Enquirer, for example we had attached one of Mark's remote control devices to a lamppost out on the road that led to the Baxter mansion and from where John would pick us up. should we encounter any problems while inside, in addition to Jack and Will coming to our aid, should we make it outside Mark would flick the switch and blow the fuses of every streetlight down the road, plunging it into darkness and meaning that we, with our improved vision, could get away and so anyone chasing us couldn't see us. but other than that we had made few changes other than to be even more alert, Baxter wasn't here but if the Enquirer was to be believed he had instructed for his security to be upped but there was no way that we could improve our strategy for sneaking in if we didn't know what we were up against, we were just going to have to wing it. Which I appreciated since it would mean that we wouldn't have to wait any longer and we could get the money tonight, therefore getting it to those who needed it sooner; however it also might have contributed to my worry.

Once the guard had been distracted George and I had kept to the shadows of the mansion's grounds, hiding from the dog wielding guards who patrolled the grounds every hour, until we reached the window that lead to George's old room, which I was so used to having to sneak into by now that I had shot the rope-clad arrow into the support beam easily and was up on the balcony in next to no time. A fact that had amused George. It had felt odd, really odd to be standing in George's bedroom and not to be angry at him, it had been weird standing there and thinking about how much had changed in such a small space of time. George, thinking along the same lines as me, had grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently, flashing me another one of his gorgeous smiles, which of course I had returned. Knowing that time was short George and I had then hurried out of his old room and under Mark's instruction, because George couldn't remember exactly where it was, we had located the nearest security camera, attached a scrambler to the side of it (in order to do which George had had to give me a leg up, since annoyingly I wasn't tall enough) and since they all ran on the same circuit all the camera's in the mansion had been rendered useless. There was no telling though, what other security measures Baxter had put in place, perhaps lasers like in his office, I had mused before thinking about our imposters again and how they must have been skilled to get through all of Baxter's defences at the offices, he had upped them since the last time we had broken in there.

And that was where we were now, walking the darkened halls of Baxter mansion, wondering where all the security guards he was supposed to have employed were, George had suggested that they were all on the lower level of the house, in the rooms that had lights on inside them which we had spotted when sneaking across the grounds. It seemed stupid to me, for all the security staff to stick together in one area, it was surely one massive security flaw, but then again, it must have been boring patrolling the corridors of somewhere that it was supposed to be impossible to break into, and besides that, Baxter's staff weren't famed for their intelligence. George and I made the most of the absent security staff, B.A and squad members and had covered a fair bit of ground since entering the building.

"How much further?" Mark, who couldn't see anything since we didn't see the point in turning on the surveillance camera on our headpieces when we didn't need him to tell us where to go, asked.

Since I didn't know the answer to that question I waited for George to reply, I had been wondering the exact same thing for a while now and was glad of Mark's timing, as I was sure had I asked the question I would have sounded like a whiney four year old.

"It's just at the end of this corridor," George whispered in reply and I just about restrained a sigh of relief, I had been beginning to wonder if we were ever going to make it there, but it seemed Baxter had merely hidden his home office deep within his home for security purposes.

"Let me know when your inside, John's getting scared by the woods again." Mark said and I felt a wide smile spread across my face when I head John's outraged (though clearly shaken) 'I am not' in the background.

Beside my George let out a quiet laugh before whispering that we'd let Mark know and carrying on down the corridor. Once again I stopped to look over my shoulder imagining my right hand throbbing against my bow as I did so, it had been doing that ever since we had left Sherwood not even two hours ago, I thought irritably. There was nothing behind us so I snuck after George noiselessly, trying to ignore how my hand felt like I'd just punched someone, the reminder of which had my anger building rapidly, which, considering where I was and what I was doing was a very bad thing. I knew that I had to get a handle on my mounting rage but I knew as soon as the memory popped into my head that I didn't stand a chance. The cycle was never ending.

Just as the other outlaws and I were heading down the stairs and out the door of Sherwood, about to drive around for a while to throw off anyone that might be following us tonight, when Adam walked out of Jacobs' office. The dark haired devil spawn had clapped eyes on us and grinned smugly, though I couldn't see why he had any right to do so, especially considering the state of his face. I hadn't felt guilty, not in the slightest as I took in Adam's bruised cheek and swollen nose, every injury I had inflicted upon him last night had been deserved and it gave me a kind of sick satisfaction to see that I had left a mark. Serves you right, I had thought as I glared at him from halfway down the stairs, I had to walk around with unexplained hand marks around my neck for a few weeks, see how you like it. I then averted my eyes from him, not wanting to talk to the loathsome creature any more, I wouldn't have put it past him to make some kind of cryptic comment about tomorrow night in front of everyone and that was the very last thing I needed. No one said anything, me and my friends just carried on moving with hard and stony faces whilst Adam watched us go with a smug, self-satisfied look on his face. As much as I wanted to yell some abuse at Adam I didn't, a mark of my improving maturity I think, and we were almost out when something, or rather someone, had to go and spoil it.

"Who hit you, Stuart?" Will had suddenly asked snidely, causing me to freeze where I stood momentarily before whipping around, sensing a confrontation and wishing that I could be the one to instigate it but knowing why I couldn't "Because they've done what I've been itching to do for about a year now and I'd like to shake their hand for it."

I had been aware of my friends standing around me, positioning themselves to show open hostility and to show how they backed up not only me but Will's words as well. Will was standing on one side of me, George, who was grinding his teeth, on the other side, behind us stood the tall, burly and very impressive John and standing next to Will but ever so slightly back, was Jack, who was by no means any less intimidating than any of the others. I had been grateful of their support but rendered it unnecessary, Adam had been working for Jacubs for weeks now and other than the occasional snide remark hadn't done anything to any of us, well at least not the others and not publically. Besides, if Adam was stupid enough to make an outright threat on George now or to so much as bring up last night and our secret meetings, which definitely didn't sound good whichever way you sliced them, I wouldn't need any help in kicking his arse. Gawd knew I was angry enough for it.

Adam had met my gaze for a moment, that smug grin still in place and causing me to scowl, he had then quickly looked back at Will so that the glance was barely detectable and not likely to be picked up on "If you think I look bad, Scarlett," Adam sneered Will's last name just as my friend had sneered his before "you should see what I'm going to do to the person that did this to me," Will made a doubtful noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh, meanwhile Adam met my gaze meaningfully and I shot him a look that said, quite plainly, bring it on then, if Adam thought I was afraid of what he could do to me physically then he had another thing coming. Adam had looked untroubled by my gaze however and carried on speaking "it might be educational for you to watch that anyway, because if you're as eager to do to me what you claim you've been wanting to do it looks like you need instruction, since despite provocation and ample opportunities, you have yet to make good of that promise. What's wrong, did Robin not want her lapdog to get himself in over his head, she prefer to keep you and Peter Perfect where she can see you?"

Something had snapped in Will at that moment and he had started forward towards Adam, his expression furious as he cursed angrily at Adam, fortunately Jack restrained him before he could reach a snickering Adam. Though Will fought her with every ounce of strength he had, desperate to get to the man that had caused me so much pain (a lot of which he didn't know about) and make good of his threats, Jack didn't let go of him though, as he struggled she pulled on his arms and started to forcefully drag him away from Adam. Beside me I had felt George tense and as the hallway erupted with shouting, laughing and struggling I grabbed hold of George's arm, pulling him back as he look a menacing step forward. I knew George well enough that unlike Will, who was a ticking time bomb and gave a warning before his outbursts, George went deadly silent when he was maddened with rage and George had been waiting for a legitimate excuse to hit Adam for a while. If only he knew.

"Don't George." I had said glaring at Adam as I tugged on George's arm, Adam only smirked, loving the trouble he was causing. I wanted to be the one to wipe that smile of his face; I silently finished my sentence and just about kept from thumping Adam myself.

"I've already made good of that threat, you worthless piece of scum," Will had shouted as John went to help Jack in restraining him, though Jack seemed to be doing alright on her own, her face a mask of determination but her eyes still soft with worry "or have you forgotten what happened when I saw you cheating on her?" Will said and I remembered the state Will had been in after confronting Adam about messing around behind my back and the blood stain on his shirt when he told me about the fight, Adam's blood.

"Believe me when I say, that that isn't an experience I am likely to forget." Adam had said his voice heavy and his meaning clear, he wasn't talking about the fight he had had with Will, but rather the act that had caused it.

Revulsion coursed through me and a new wave of hate for the man who had been standing before me then, I had hated him so much but I knew that right now there was nothing that I could do about it. That comment seemed to be the last straw for George who tried to shrug off my grip to no avail, I wasn't going to let him put himself in danger, no chance no way, oh I had no doubt that George could kick Adam's arse, but I was more concerned about what Adam would do after George had done that, or more specifically who he would go running to. That was the reason why I didn't let George do what he so desperately wanted to do, that was why I didn't show Adam how mad I really was or let my anger take over me though I was practically shaking with it.

"Piss off, Adam," I had said simply, tugging on George's arm as I sensed Jack, John and Mark helping to lead Will outside and away from Adam, I wanted to leave now, to get away from temptation because right now I didn't trust myself not to just unleash George on Adam and help him to kick his arse.

Adam met my gaze, still looking all superior "is that the worst you can do, Robin?" he'd asked me, igniting my fury anew since I could tell from his expression what he meant by that, he was had been taunting me, telling me that he knew why I wasn't giving him a piece of my mind (and my fist) and that that was because he had the upper hand, because if I did he would hand over George to Baxter and he would win. I had glared at Adam for a moment, reminding myself over and over why I couldn't just go over there and give him a matching bruise on the other cheek, then I unfroze, pulled a still fuming George across the entrance hall and met Adam's gaze as I said,

"Not even close."

I had then pulled George out into the garden, leaving him to calm down as I closed the door behind us; we had all then climbed into the van, tension, rage and annoyance rife in the air around us, choking us for the majority of the drive. Everyone had calmed down though, and right now it seemed that everyone had forgotten about it, everyone but me. I had been quite proud of myself to be honest, normally I wouldn't have been able to restrain the kind of rage but I had done today but I suppose that was because I had the incentive to do so, forcing me to get over my short fuse. Once again back in the present moment I noticed just how tight I was holding my bow, even in the darkness it was clear that the tension there had drained all the blood from my hands, they glowed a pasty white and I was in danger of snapping my bow. Swapping it over to my left hand so that I could shake out my right and get the circulation going again, I took a few deep calming breaths, as advised by my anger management councillor at Locksdale Upper, and tried to level out my temper before following after George, who had gotten quite a way down the corridor while I was checking behind me. Jogging noiselessly down the corridor I was by his side in an instant, once again I checked over my shoulder just in case anyone was there and then looked forward with George, who was approaching the office door.

"It'll be locked," George reminded me as he reached the door, he tried it just to be sure and sure enough the handle only dipped so far.

"On it," I said as I pulled my lock picking kit from my utility belt, recently Will (the master craftsman) had been teaching me how to lock pick, it had been going well and this newly acquired knowledge was the only reason that Will didn't have to be here too. Walking around George I peered through my mask at the lock in front of me and bended down to the right height, using two picks I placed them both inside the lock and jiggled them about, alternating their angles until I found the right alignment that would have fit the key. This took a few minutes, since I wasn't as skilled as Will, George waited behind me patiently and I couldn't suppress the feeling of satisfaction I got when I heard the clicking sound of the door unlocking. Smiling broadly I pushed myself back to my feet and turned to face George as I put away my equipment, George, who was grinning at me proudly, nodded in the direction of the door before saying,

"After you,"

I nodded my conformation before reaching out with a gloved hand and opening the office door, I paused for a moment, waiting for something to jump out at me or for an alarm to go off, this didn't happen but despite that I didn't go into the room just yet. Surveying the doorway, ceiling and room its self for the tell tale green glow of lasers I decided that there was nothing else to check for and if the room was rigged with extra security measures then I couldn't see them and we only had a limited amount of time before the B.A arrived. With that in mind I stepped into the office and when nothing additional happened I crossed the room towards Baxter's desk speaking into my mic as I did so,

"We're in," I told Mark as George quietly closed the office door behind us and followed me to his father's desk and bent down beside it, searching for the hollow compartment where the spare key to the safe was hidden.

"Good," Mark said his words accompanied by the sound of his fingers hitting the keys of his laptop "the area is still secure and I haven't heard anything bad from Jack and Will, I don't know what else is happening inside the mansion though, so you two will need to be quick."

"Will do," George said as I turned from surveying the office, it was pretty Baxter standard, big desk, leather, a high backed chair for him, a hard wooden chair for any visitor, locked filing cabinets, one potted plant, absolutely no personal decoration what so ever, no picture of George no image of a family outing, no nothing. Despite how I had expected as much from the heartless tyrant, it still irritated me how little he cared for George.

I watched as George located the hollow compartment in the desk, opening it gently from underneath, his fingers carefully pulling underneath the small wooden door until it opened. Reaching inside George pulled out a small key, which even in the darkness I could tell was silver in colour, George grinned at the small key in his hand before shutting the small wooden door and getting to his feet. I raised my eyebrows in respect as I watched this, even though it killed me, I had to admit that Baxter was pretty darn smart; he didn't do things by half and was very skilled at hiding his underhanded dealings and anything that might be considered important, it was a shame for him that we were just as skilled. George passed me as he headed towards the beautifully crafted fireplace, clearly made out of pristine white marble the fireplace was nothing short of exquisite from gilded grate the marble finish, exactly the sort of thing you'd expect from Baxter. I lent against the desk as George approached it, knowing that there was nothing for me to be doing right now, George was the one who was going to try and open it, I was only to keep watch. I wasn't doing a very good job of that though to be honest, resting with my back against the thick, polished wooden desk and consequently with my back to the door, I watched as George bent down in front of the fireplace and inspected it for a moment, a look of endearing concentration crossing his face as he tried to remember what his father had done.

Tentatively George reached out a leather-clad hand and brushed the top of the electric fireplace its self, his gloved fingers grazing the black metal as he ran them along it, sliding his fingers down the side of the fireplace George's eyes twinkled and his mouth spilt open into a wide grin as he found something. Apparently pushing a button of some kind George pulled his fingers away from the black metal just as the electric fire let out a hissing sound before sliding to the side, missing the white marble by mere centimetres, and letting out a shwooshing sound and revealing a black safe door, complete with keypad. The loud noises echoed brutally in the silent room, startled and alert I turned to face door, an arrow poised in my bow just in case anyone had heard the sounds and was coming to investigate. Neither George nor I moved for a moment, I stood there, my body twisted so that I was facing the door and my fingers grazing my bowstring ready to release it if anyone walked in. No one did, an after a few minutes of waiting I lowered my bow, arrow still inside it, ready and waiting just like it had been since we exited the van, returning to my original position, though considerably more vigilant now. I nodded at George telling him to continue, he returned the motion before gulping, his Adams Apple bobbing in his throat as he did so, and turning back to face the safe door, he knew just as well as I did how pressed for time we were and was trying to be quick about it, though he still had to be thorough as well.

I flicked my fringe out of my eyes as I lent against the table, my heart still even more frantic than it had been earlier thanks to the noise the fireplace had made and I watched as George pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and looked down at the numbers written there. I knew straight away that this was the piece of paper we had written down all the possible combinations for Baxter's safe that we could think of, and I waited expectantly as George reached forward and typed in the first code, zero, nine, zero, six, six, eight, Baxter's birthday. George pulled his finger away and waited for a second before the safe let out a sharp, angry beep, causing us both the jump at the volume of it and telling us that that wasn't the right code. George quickly looked up in the direction of me and the door, at the same time I tightened my grip on my bow and stared over my shoulder, ready to react at a moments notice. We gave it another moment before moving again and when it became apparent that no one had heard the noise George turned back to the safe saying,

"I'll try my mum's next," in a quiet voice, in which I detected a hint of sadness at the mention of his mum, I desperately wanted to comfort him right then, but I knew that I couldn't and remained fixed where I stood, staring at the door just in case anyone had indeed heard the beep, and tying to ignore the tugging on my heartstrings.

I waited as George typed in the next code and flinched yet again as the safe let out a sharp beat, telling us that we had guessed wrong yet again, this wasn't going well, I thought as I kept my gaze locked on door and narrowed my eyes at it, waiting for someone to burst in though mercifully they didn't. I flexed my fingers on my bow as George let out a exasperated sigh and, I assumed, went to type in the third combination, our last hope, generally with these ( like cash machines etc) you got three chances before lock down and then that was it, no more guessing, I didn't know which one of our combinations George had left until last, but I hoped it was a good one, it would be a complete waste of time and effort for us to go through all of this and still not get the money.

"Bingo," George whispered as a slight click echoed through the room, I turned around to face him, letting out a sigh of relief as I saw him reach towards the safe, turn the handle and open it effortlessly.

"Which one was it?" I asked him, leaning against the desk again and feeling relief wash over me in waves; we might just be able to do this yet.

"The one that Mark came up with," George said quietly, his gratefulness and happiness evident in his voice and greatly contagious, I grinned, silently praising my genius friend for thinking of the numerical spelling of Baxter.

"I'm not one to say I told you so," Mark said in our ears having heard our conversation, I laughed a little when I heard Jack and Will groaning irritably into their own mics "but…" Mark said drawing out the word, clearly pleased to have been right, yet again.

"But you told us so," I finished for him in a hushed tone, proud of him too.

"Yup," Mark said into my ear piece.

"Great work Mark," George whispered "that was genius; we should be out soon now."

"Good," Mark said, his words accompanied by the sound of typing once more "because I don't know how much longer Luck is going to let you go without being spotted."

"Duly noted," I said with a nod of my head, though obviously he couldn't see it.

"We won't be long, bag?" George asked as he turned to face me, smiling at our success and eager to carry on with it. I retuned his smile as I reached up and pulled the rucksack from over my shoulder, taking in gently over my quiver of arrows and balling it up so that I could throw it to George. I tossed the bag to George, who caught it effortlessly and turned to start putting money inside, unfortunately though, the motion of doing just that had me swinging my elbows and upon returning my right arm back to my side I managed to knock over a neatly stacked pile of papers on Baxter's desk.

"Crap," I muttered as they spilled onto the floor, scattering about messily. George looked up, his hand hovering inside the safe he looked unsure about whether or not to come and help me, I motioned for him to carry on grabbing the cash and bent down the hastily clear up my mess.

Cursing myself for my old clumsiness, which apparently I couldn't even fully escape as Robin Hood, I grabbed the sheets of paper and stacked them together quickly, deciding that it would allow me to get the job done quicker if I could use both my hands I place my bow down by my side and went back to picking up papers. Just as I went to pick up the last few papers I noticed something else lying on the floor, judging by its haphazard placement it too had fallen off the desk with the papers, putting the last sheets on my pile I reached for it. The object was a black book, a diary by the looks of it, pulling it towards me I let my curiosity get the better of me and stared at it for a moment before flicking to this week's page, the chance of looking through Baxter's datebook was something too big to just pass up. I was vaguely aware of hearing George zipping up the rucksack and the sound of the safe as it clicked shut and the electric fire slid back in place, signalling that George was finished and that we needed to get going. I didn't move however, I just stared down at the datebook and the appointment that was written on today's date 'Richard, 12 o'clock, London'.

I sensed George bending down beside me to read over my shoulder, I remained frozen on the floor as he did that, trying to digest what this meant, because I knew, just knew that it was important. Beside me I felt George stiffen, confirming my suspicions, slowly I turned to look at him; he met my questioning gaze with a confused one of his own.

"I don't understand," he said quietly as he stared down at the writing on the page "that can't be right, but this is my father's datebook." He said speaking more to himself than me as he tried to make sense of this.

"What is it George?" I asked him, though past experiences and my gut feeling were giving me a good guess of what this meant.

Still frowning George turned to look at me "my uncle's name is Richard, the writing here is informal so clearly it means that my father is meeting with him, but it doesn't make sense, they haven't spoken in years, not since Uncle Richard bet my father for a position in parliament, he hates him now more than he ever did since Richard has progressed a lot since then."

It clicked then, everything clicked and fell into place and I could have kicked myself for how obvious it was and how I should have figured it out earlier "wait," I said wanting to make sure I understood and wasn't wrong here "you mean that you're uncle and Baxter's brother, is Richard Baxter, Deputy Prime Minster?" and next in line for the job when our current Prime Minster resigned next month, though I didn't need to add that, it was implied.

George nodded the affirmative and I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity "of course," I said as a feeling of dread rose in my body "of course this is it, how could I have been such an idiot?"

"I guess we know where my father went now, to London to meet with my uncle…" George trailed off as what I had thought of occurred to him too "you don't think that this is it…that just like in the legends…?" George asked as the horrific thought registered in his mind, of what all of this meant and just how bad this was.

"That Baxter wants to usurp his brother's position?" I asked as dread, horror and determination filled me, this was beyond bad, this was terrible, it was a disaster if Baxter was about to follow the legends and try and take over from his brother then not only would he be able to abuse Locksdale and get away with it, but the whole country too. There was absolutely no way that I could let that happen, but what could I possibly do to stop it? "It seems pretty likely to me."

George and I shared a horrified look before promptly springing into action; I grabbed hold of the pile of papers and clutched the diary in my hand, setting all of them back on the table I then re-opened the diary, frantically flicking through the pages for more information, George by my side.

"What exactly are we looking for?" George asked me as he stared at the diary pages.

"Another meeting, a campaigning date, anything that looks like Baxter might be planning to overthrow his brother's position," I said as I continued to flick through the diary with no success, there didn't seem to be anything else related the Richard or parliament and that didn't do anything to calm me, I wanted to know what I was up against here and was still kicking myself for taking this long to figure it out, I should have known from the beginning that he would be planning something like this, maybe that's what my trip to the 'past' was all about, a warning. Subconsciously I raised my hand to brush the scar, caused by a sword wound and still there, clear as day across my bow shaped mark, the only solid proof of my trip and something I had been avoiding thinking about. Could it have been real?

"You think it's that serious?" George asked me, stress evident in his voice.

"I have no reason to believe that I isn't," I said as I continued to flick, considerably more disheartened now, since it didn't look like we would be getting anything more from this book, and now I had a feeling that I couldn't hide from this time travel stuff any longer, sooner than I had hoped, I was going to have to tell the others about what I think had happened then. Running my hand through my hair in agitation as stress built up inside me, I reached the end of the diary and closed it, feeling like everything was starting to overwhelm me, as if I needed something else to worry about.

"I don't think we're going to get anything else from that," I said with a sigh "we could look through the rest of the papers but it'll take a while." I suggested as I reached for the stack of papers I had just returned to the desk, startling when George's hand shot out and stopped me.

"Robin," he said, his voice having a new edge to it, he sounded like he was genuinely frightened "look," he said, nodding in the direction of the wall opposite us, the same one with the door on it, though that wasn't what he was looking at. Stomach dropping as I did so, I followed his gaze and felt my eyes widen when I spotted what he was looking at, in the far corner was a small CCTV camera its little red light blinking furiously. Crap. It must have been on a separate circuit.

"What is it?" Mark, who had been silent throughout our conversation, seemingly too shocked for words, asked.

"A problem," I said as George let go of my arm so that he could hitch up the rucksack of money and I quickly bent down to retrieve my bow, repositioned the arrow and straightened up.

"We've got a camera, most likely on a separate circuit to the others." George told Mark before turning to me, I nodded at him and dashed towards the door with him hot on my heels.

"Do you have company?" Mark asked, typing and clicking frantically though I didn't know what he'd be able to do from his computer to help us.

"Not yet," I said quietly "but who knows how long it's been since they spotted us, or even if they have yet."

"Right," Mark said, clearly worried as I opened the door a crack and stared out into the empty corridor, checking that it was safe before silently stepping out onto it, George followed me "make your way back to George's old room,"

"Right," George whispered by my side as we crept back down the corridor twice as vigilant as before now there was a chance they were looking for us.

"Mark," Jack, having made her way into the grounds with Will as per the changed plan, whispered into her mic "they're searching the mansion, all the lights are being switched one by one."

"Okay, Jack, Will, get yourselves to that window, we've got a problem." Mark said just as George and I turned off the corridor where Baxter's home office was, crap, crap, crap, I thought as we implemented silent running and I followed George down the hallways, they were searching the mansion; it would only be so long before we spotted one of them.

"Right," Jack said just as Will whispered,

"Okay,"

"Robin, George, you need to get a move on, they'll be upon you any minute, we can see the lights on the top floor from where the van's parked." Mark said, telling us that he was parked out on the street now and not just warning us.

Neither George nor I replied as we ran through the still darkened corridors of the mansion, fearing that any noise we might make would cause them to find us that much sooner. I followed George, checking over my shoulder every now and again as he led me through the maze of corridors, the journey taking less time now what with our frantic running. It was just as I was checking over my shoulder again, just as I had done on the way in, when I saw the light on the corridor we had just turned off switch on, crap, crap, they were almost here.

"George!" I hissed when the sound of footsteps met with my ears, fearing that we were going to be spotted I darted forwards, grabbed George's arm and quickly pulled him down another corridor to my right just as the light in the corridor we had been on just seconds before switched on, illuminating everything in there.

George gave me a grateful look before carrying on running down this new corridor, which thankfully seemed to be the right one a few minutes later, and not a second too soon, we were closing the door behind us in George's old bedroom and dashing across the darkened room towards the balcony. Breathing heavily I slid open the glass door and stepped out into the cool night air, freezing when I spotted torches moving around the darkened grounds and the sound of barking dogs reached my ears.

"Bloody hell," I breathed thinking it would be a miracle if we got out of here.

"Robin," I desperate sounding voice bellow me hissed, cautiously I approached the edge of the balcony with George right behind me, looking down into the darkness I spotted two figures I recognised as Will and Jack standing just below us. "Throw it down," Will said, meaning the rucksack.

George stepped around me and did as suggested, there was the sound of Will or Jack catching the rucksack and then George turned back to me, gesturing towards the rope I shook my head and motioned for him to go first but I knew that we weren't exactly in a position to argue since we didn't have the time, and when he gestured again and said,

"Go, Robin," I didn't think twice about doing as asked.

I let go of the rope at the bottom, relieved to be landing on the soft earth but knowing that we weren't out of the woods yet, beside me stood Will and Jack, Jack had the rucksack thrown over her shoulder and all of us turned expectantly to look up at the balcony, waiting for George to come down so that we could leave. I was about to call out to him to see what was taking so long when a dark ball was thrown off of the balcony. Confused I picked up the things that George had thrown down, which upon closer inspection appeared to be his mask wrapped up inside his hoodie, my heart dropped down to my stomach painfully, he wouldn't.

"Get out of here, I'll distract them long enough for you all to get away, I'll tell them that you ran towards the south wall and you can leave trough the main gates, they communicate via walkie-talkies so they'll send everyone in the direction I tell them to. Just get running now I'm going to call them in here." George said, talking into his mic from upstairs in his old room.

"Okay George," Mark said in my ear, I pulled an outraged face and shook my head.

"No," I whisper shouted from where we hid in the shadows "there's still time for you to climb down and get away too, they wont believe you if you say you're innocent, you have no reason to even be in the mansion at this time. It won't work George, just come down the rope."

"If I don't send them all in the wrong direction then no one is getting out, don't overreact Robin, I'll be fine." George insisted trying to reassure me though it didn't work.

"No, I'm not overreacting, I just refuse to let you get caught, now get your backside down here right now and leave with us." I instructed him, ignoring how Will and Jack looked at me and how Mark and John could hear as well, I wasn't leaving him here, not now.

"Will, please," George said and the meaning of his words registered with me too late as Will stepped forward and grabbed hold of my arm, trying to pull me away from the balcony and the rope I was seriously considering re-climbing just so I could go up there and drag him down.

"Let go," I hissed at Will as I struggled to get out of his grasp and he pulled me away from the mansion and towards the shadows of the walls we were going to use as cover "I wont let you do this, George."

"Robin, I'll be fine, just go with them," George said watching me trying to fight Will off but having no success since I was slowly becoming an emotional wreck, curtsy of nightmares in which George died, Adam's threats and the frightening concept of what George was going to do. They wouldn't believe him, I just knew that they wouldn't, he would going to be found out.

"Come on, Robin," Will coaxed as we started moving down the shadows and forcing me to look away from George for a split second to look at him "George knows what he's doing." But he doesn't, I thought miserably, he doesn't, he hasn't seen what I have, continuing to struggle I turned back to face the balcony just in time to catch a last glimpse of George before he dashed back into the room, presumably to meet the B.A members searching the house.

"George," I called before Will slipped his hand over my mouth, I swear, I was so mad with him right then that it took every ounce of my self control not to bite his hand like I wanted to.

"He can't hear you, Robin," Mark told me "he's taken out his ear piece."

That knowledge did nothing to make me feel any better, nothing at all and I still fought with Will as he dragged me further and further away from the balcony and George, not even the slight of all the torches heading towards the south wall made me feel any better. I struggled with Will, fought the urge to cry but eventually gave up, knowing that there was nothing I could do right now and hating that fact with every fibre of my being, I knew mentally that George might not have been in any actual danger, he was very charismatic and when he spoke he often had everyone eating out of the palm of his hand. I also knew that there was more important things to be contending with, like Baxter's possible plan to usurp his brother's position, but emotionally I couldn't comprehend any of this, to me right then George was the most important thing, and he was in danger. Jack, hurrying along beside us, shot me a sympathetic look, I guessed that she was thinking about what she would do if she were in my shoes right now, for her expression I guessed that it wouldn't be too different. I was vaguely aware of us passing through the gates of Baxter mansion and only really started to focus on other things again when we reached where the van was parked. Mark threw open the back doors and Jack jumped in with the money while Will guided me in, half expecting me to shake free of him and sprint back up to George, and I would have done, if I had had the energy for it.

The van doors closed behind us and Mark rushed back to his computer, tapping a single key and plunging the road into darkness, John started the van and dove away quickly. We all sat in silence, the bag of money laying off on its own and all of us thinking, feeling almost numb now and totally drained I looked at the back of van even though there was no window there and I could see nothing but the inside of the door, thinking of George. Furious I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails were digging sharply into my palm and I was sure that they would probably leave a mark, scowling I turned away from the doors and spotted the ball of George's things on the floor on the van, watching him throw them over the balcony over and over again in my mind. Why did he have to be so bloody noble? George's perfection was going to be the death of him and there was nothing I could do about it. Rocking when the van went over a particularly large pothole, alerting me to the fact that we were back in the Southside, I fought back angry, pained tears and tried my best to imagine an outcome where the B.A believed George's story.

**Author note: so, there it was, what do you reckon? Please let me know what you think to this, I'm dying to know, the end was a very last second idea, does it show? Thanks for reading and reviewing, much love to you! :) x**


	12. Protectiveness

**Author note: I'm sorry, more than I could possibly say that it's taken me so long to get this up, as a writer I am shame faced and as a human being I apologise. Sorry guys, but I've got a very long chapter for you here and maybe you could forgive me. I'll stop talking now and you can get reading, I hope you enjoy it :)**

**Chapter twelve: protectiveness**

**Hudson Farm**

John dropped me off last as he drove us all home that night. Wearing a sympathetic look John had gotten out of the van and given me a reassuring hug while I, in my pissed off state, only glared over his shoulder at the old fashioned lamppost in our farm yard, cursing George for being so bloody noble. I hugged my friend back but that was about as emotional as I got, which I was sure had John worried because he seemed reluctant to let me go for fear that I would do something stupid, like go back to the mansion for George. I'd be lying if I told you that the thought hadn't crossed my mind again, I'd been considering it on and off for the whole of the drive back but not even I would ever do something so idiotic. What good would I do George if I charged back in there, still dressed in my black sneaking about clothes and with my bow still in hand? I'd blow the very miniscule chance George had of actually convincing the B.A that he had simply happened to be in the mansion during our break in and had been trying to catch us. I might be pissed off and dealing with my boyfriend's overprotective tendencies, which were now putting his life in danger, but I wasn't going to risk George's safety by going back there.

So reluctantly John got back in his van and left me to be alone, I appreciated my sweetest friends concern I really did, but I wasn't physically able to feel anymore emotion right now, I was already being bombarded with a whole swarm of nasty feelings such as dread, horror, worry, fury, distress, etc. I think John understood though and was probably thinking about what he would do if he was in my situation, as well as considering how I could have reacted to this compared with how I actually was. John knew me well enough to know that this could have caused me to outright explode, well…more so than I already had about it, I think that he, just like everyone else, was just waiting for me to snap with this, though not really fully understanding why I would. I mean, it wasn't even as though the only thing bothering me was that George was risking his life by being found in the mansion, uninvited and with no one having seen him entering, or even just that his father hated us so much and had tried to kill us and him (though Baxter never knew that) on numerous occasions. This would be enough to have anyone braking down when they thought about potentially losing someone they loved that way. But to have made as much effort as I had at trying to keep George safe, well, it was all I could do not to just drop to the floor and scream. I wouldn't though, I was stronger than that, I was going to carry on and wait, we might get through this yet.

Numb I waited for John's van to disappear completely from sight before I walked to the house and tried the door, it was locked. Deciding that rather than risk waking up the whole house (which could include my parents and Joey if they were actually in) I opted instead to enter the house the same way I had left it, via my bedroom window which had mercifully been left open, unlike the door. Throwing my bow over my shoulder so that it rested across my body in a diagonal fashion I looked up at my bedroom window, conveniently located right above the porch roof, something which had unfortunately benefited Adam during his 'visits'. Using the drain pipe for support I pressed my foot against one of the plastic rungs that kept the pipe attached to the wall, and used it to boost myself upwards, grabbing hold of the pipe further up I pulled myself aloft and then snatched hold of the porch roof before hoisting myself onto it noiselessly. Pausing only to check that no one had heard anything I then scurried across the sloping porch roof and in through my open window.

Landing on the worn carpet I scanned the darkened room cautiously, knowing full well that Adam or someone equally as unpleasant could be hiding in here, waiting for me to return. But my heightened eyesight picked up nothing and after searching the room properly and finding that no one was in here but me, I proceeded to hide all of my belongings, including my bow and my quiver. The bag I had brought out with me earlier, which now contained the money we had stolen, was securely in a safe at Sherwood where no one but us would ever find it, with that in mind I changed for bed. In my night clothes but still tense (mostly because I was worried about George and partly because who knew what was lurking in the rest of the house) I slid my feet into my fuzzy slippers before crossing the room and opening my bedroom door, hands balled into fists should I need to defend myself. Yet again my search proved that no one was here that shouldn't have been and I had to question the accuracy of my senses, they were going crazy telling me that something was wrong but I just couldn't locate what that was. Maybe I was just over worked.

Walking past my parents bedroom I could make out snoring in their room, oh, I thought with mild interest, so they were here tonight were they? Unable to give my parents actual presence here any more thought than that, I then found myself walking to George's room, my instincts going haywire as I reached the door. Cautious but wanting to get to the bottom of whatever my problem was I quickly turned the handle and threw open the door; I didn't stand a chance of stopping my heart from sinking when I realised it was empty. Sighing quietly and feeling irritated I realised what my issue was and why I felt like something was wrong, it was because to me something was. I walked into the vacant room which George had managed to make his own, despite the fact that it still had pink walls and was really Alice's. He had filled it with all the things I was coming to associate with him, sketch pads and pencils for example, but also photographs of all of us together and some of just me and him, that along with his smell (a sharp clean scent mixed with the waxy smell of pastel crayons and paint), which seemed to be a fixed presence in the room had me both mad and upset. Stupid, beautiful, kind, self sacrificing idiot, knowing I was doing myself no good by being in here. My problem was that George had become such a fixed presence in my life, and I was so used to having him here with me that now that he wasn't it felt…odd, like George had always been here and his absence was unnatural even though he had only been rooming here a few weeks. Gawd, I thought as I folded my arms across my chest and bit my bottom lip, I really must have fallen hard here.

For some strange reason I had half expected to find George in there, lying in bed having miraculously gotten home before me, that stupidly, gorgeous, charming grin on his face as he told me I was being stupid for worrying and that everything was fine. It was too much of a let down that he wasn't. Deciding that sitting here and inhaling the clean cut, waxy smell that reminded me of George, had me about one more prang of worry away from being overwhelmed, was why I had quickly turned and left George's room, closing the door behind me and telling myself that he would likely be back here by the time I woke up. If Conner didn't make it so he couldn't.

Angry at my state of helplessness and once back in my own room I promptly crawled into bed, kicking off my slippers at the foot of the single, knowing full well that I wasn't going to get to sleep any time soon. And sure enough I spent a good few hours laying awake, staring at the ceiling, cursing George for putting himself in danger and making mental threats to anyone who dared to hurt him, I worried myself to sleep. The nightmare was ten times worse than usual; something I hadn't thought would be possible. Nothing within it changed, it still ran its natural, heart wrenching course but every second of it from the moment when I realised what was happening to the very bloody end was more painful than ever. Waking up raw and still stinging from my nightmare I had jumped out of bed and headed straight for Georges room, hoping that by quarter past five in the morning (I hadn't needed to look at the clock this time) he would be back from Baxters and asleep in bed.

Promptly throwing open George's bedroom door, sure he wouldn't mind me waking him up given the circumstances. I visibly slumped when my gaze landed on his empty, untouched bed. Despair coursed through me as whatever hope I might have had vanished, then outright fear hit me as I considered what this meant. If George wasn't back yet then that meant that Conner, or whichever member of Baxter's security staff, hadn't let him, because sure as the sky was blue George would have wanted to get back here and put my mind at rest after worrying me like this, I'd stake my life on that fact. George wasn't here, therefore he wasn't allowed to leave, which had the threat of meaning that he had been found out, my frightened mind reasoned. Worried out of my mind and shattered after yet another fitful few hours sleep I felt my restraint waver and my already strained control on my temper snap. Balling my hands into fists and feeling my arms shake with my furry I fought back an enraged scream. This wasn't right, not in the slightest, George and I were supposed to be a team, just like all six of us were, why did he have to go and make such an idiotic decision on his own? Did it never cross his mind what this would do to me? I know it had been a spur of the moment thing but didn't he even consider what he was actually doing? George's chivalry had put him in danger and here I was unable to do anything to help him, forced to sit her and wait like some dainty wife while George risked his life, useless, helpless and furious.

I hated it, I thought loudly as I struggled to keep control of my anger, I hated being so helpless, it was my job to help people, to save them, what kind of Robin Hood was I when I couldn't even keep my own boyfriend safe? Even after all my efforts to keep Adam from spilling George's secret, all of that was going to be a waste of time now, I had sucked up my pride and spent weeks at Adam's beck and call just to keep George safe and now he was going to throw all that away! I wanted to scream, I wanted to scream and rage and let out all of this pent up anger but I couldn't, I couldn't because of my sleeping family. I didn't know how long I could keep this up though, I was fast reaching boiling point and I was sure I was going to well and truly snap soon. I had to get out of here, to get away from my family so I could release this anger without having to explain it to them. Warm, angry tears welling up in my eyes and a scowl on my lips I stormed from George's room, leaving the door open so that I wouldn't be tempted to slam it shut, I dashed into my bedroom. Violently, I yanked open my cupboards, draws and wardrobe doors until I was fully dressed, hastily running a brush through my midlength brown hair and tying it up messily I felt the first warm tear slide down my cheek. I had to get out of here, I thought again as I gritted my teeth, not caring at all that it was half past five in the morning and the only people who would be out now were the weirdos. Snatching up my makeup bag and throwing it into my college bag, which already had all the books I needed for today inside of it, I violently threw it over my shoulder, gaining some satisfaction when it hit my back quite hard.

Angrily dragging the back of my hand across my cheek to wipe away my tears I pulled a thin jacket from my wardrobe, the coat hanger clattering loudly against the wood as I did so, and stormed from my room, leaving the door open again. Hurrying down the stairs before I burst from all this suppressed anger and worry I dropped my bag at the bottom of the stairs and was stepping into a pair of flats when a concerned voice from the top of the stairs quietly asked,

"Robin?"

I froze, but only for a moment, hope building up inside of me even though I knew that that wasn't George's voice, it was Joey's. Heart sinking when I looked up the stairs at my brown haired cousin I quickly snatched up my bag and went to open the door, I could see the worry on his face and knew he was concerned about me but I couldn't bring myself to stay and talk to him. I didn't normally pull the whole moody teenager thing, despite my short fuse I had never been one of those kids, but today I had had my patience tried, well it was more than just today when you thought about it, the past few weeks had been tough and I was fast becoming buried under all my responsibilities and fears, it had all finally caught up with me and I was snapping. But still, I never normally acted like this, which was why Joey was so obviously worried and it was probably why my friends were so concerned, but come on, there was only so much a girl could take.

"Robin, what're you doing?" my nineteen year old cousin asked as he started down the stairs and I turned to face him, cheeks shinning with tears, he spotted them and froze where he stood, I never cried.

"Leave it, Joey," I said, my voice sounding thick with my tears "I just need to go out for a bit."

"You cant, it's half past five in the morning and you'll get abducted or something, all the perves are out at this time." Joey said slipping into his role as substitute big brother, despite being touched at his concern I made a scoffing noise, if only he knew half the things I'd been up to and the foes I'd been up against, he wouldn't be saying this if he did.

"I know what time it is, Joey." I said hitching my bag further up my shoulder and turning towards the door again "and I think I can take care of myself."

"I'll bet you do," Joey said in a slightly doubtful and sarcastic tone as he reached the bottom of the stairs "I know what you're like Robin, you think you're this invincible girl but you're not, it's not safe to go out now. Besides you're in a right state, what's wrong?" he said as he neared me eyeing my tears again and causing me to blush a little with embarrassment.

"It's nothing; I just need to go for a walk." I lied easily, trying a little harder to appear less freaked out, I needed to get out of this house and I wasn't going to let Joey stop me.

"Oh, yeah, because I believe that," Joey said quietly, again in a sarcastic tone though his face was soft with honest worry "tell me what's wrong, I haven't seen you this upset since you found out about Adam." he added a little tentatively as he broached the sensitive subject, and rightly so, that was none of his business.

I frowned angrily at his words before hissing "that's nothing like this," and causing Joey to look sceptical.

"Is it George, then?" Joey asked me his tone going hard and causing me to look up at him, I had been glaring at the floor up until that point, mortified and unwilling to meet his gaze.

"Not in the way you're thinking," I said, alarmed by the threat in my cousin's voice, he and George had always gotten on so well.

"So it is George, what has he done Robin, what has he done to make you upset like this?" Joey asked, going into full on protective big brother mode and causing me to stare at him in disbelief as I hissed,

"Nothing!" quietly as I remembered my sleeping parents and grandparents "I am not having this conversation with you Joey, I'm goin out."

"No Robin, you're not," Joey said as he took a quick stride towards the front door and pressed his hand against the wood so that I couldn't open it, shocking me since Joey had always been laid back around me and never so protective " now tell me, what has he done?"

"Nothing!" I repeated in an exasperated tone "it's not what George's done, it's what might be being done to George." I said grudgingly, giving away more than I wanted.

"Why, what's happened to George, is he in some kind of trouble?" Joey asked, softening a little when it became apparent that George hadn't done anything to hurt me, consequently my back came down a little.

"I don't know," I admitted in a quiet voice before shaking myself as I realised what I had said, I was giving far too much away here.

"Tell me Robin, I know what it's like being a lad and I know how you can get involved with things that are a bit dodgy…"

"Oh for Christ's sake Joey you're still a lad yourself, you're nineteen not fifty and you're starting to sound like my dad!" I said reaching past him and turning the door handle only to find he was keeping it shut with his hand still, angry and wishing he would just move I continued to tug on the door "move, Joey."

"No," Joey said sternly as I continued to pull at the door handle "not until you tell me what's wrong."

"Fine," I snapped, hearing my voice getting louder and knowing I would be shouting soon. Letting go of the door handle and making an exaggerated motion of showing him that I had, I locked my hard gaze with his worried but unflinching one before spinning on my heel and heading towards the back door.

"Oh no ya don't," Joey said before hastily following after me, keeping a steady pace I reached the kitchen door before sensing him right behind me and making a swift U turn just as he reached out to grab my arm and stop me. I quickly turned and broke out into a run as I dashed past him and back towards the front door, throwing him off for a second or two before he snapped out of it and came after me.

"Robin, don't," he called no longer bothering to keep quiet.

"I'm sorry, Joey," I whispered over my shoulder just as I reached the door, I knew that he could hear me though "but I've just got to go."

I yanked open the door and with one apologetic look in Joey's direction sped off out into the farmyard.

"Robin, don't make me tell Uncle Alex and Auntie Jane!" Joey called; sounding like he really didn't want to have to do it since no teenager liked being a grass, but he was worried and I wouldn't expect anything else.

I didn't answer, I just took off, running in the darkness and knowing that I had to get as far away from the farm as I could given my short head start, knowing my cousin well enough to know that he had the Hudson determination and wasn't going to just let me go. He was likely pulling on his shoes right now and was going to come after me in the car. I wouldn't let him find me though. I needed to clear my head and I couldn't do that in the confines of our farm house, I'd be back home after college and I'd sort this out with Joey then. I knew Joey wasn't seeing my need to get out but only worrying about what might happen to me roaming the dark streets at this early hour, in truth it was something that despite my abilities I actually should be worrying about a little, but I wasn't and I just wanted to have the space to think this whole thing through. And with that thought I picked up my pace and sprinted up the lane, hoping Joey would forgive me for being such a brat.

As my feet pounded against the pavement and I put more and more distance between myself and the farm, rushing deeper and deeper into the heart of the Southside. My pace slowed a little as I turned my right for the third time since I had set off onto the fifth housing estate I had ran through, it was made up entirely of dark stone terrace houses thinking I could afford to slow down now since it was unlikely that Joey would find me here. As I walked down the silent street I felt myself regret what I had just done and the way I had spoken to Joey, it was the first real argument I had had since he came to live with us a few years back but it couldn't have been avoided, I had had to get out of the house. What was Joey even doing up at that time anyway? I wondered as I stepped around a big yellow skip, pilled high with old furniture and unwanted items, pulled up against the pavement. Joey ought to have been asleep so early in the morning, I knew that my dad and he did get up pretty early to go to work on the farm but he would have had at least another forty-five minutes or so left in bed before he had to get up. feeling like I was missing something and trying to figure out what that was, I opted to turn left at the end of the street, turning onto yet another row of terrace houses, the kind that used to home miners before the pits closed. Pushing all thoughts of Joey's early wake up call from my mind I carried on walking, finding that the rhythmic beating of my feet against the pavement oddly calming. My anger at being so helpless was slowly draining from me, seeping out into the concrete with each step I took. Pacing or else walking, I remembered, was one of the techniques the anger management councillor I went to see at Locksdale Upper had suggested, along with counting to ten which I used more frequently than this, though thinking about it now I may want to rethink that idea as walking was having much more effect on me than counting ever did.

One down side of gradually losing my anger though was that my worry became more dominant, expanding into the space that rage had previously filled and making me feel even more frightened. Glancing over my shoulder to see if anyone was behind me, even though I knew that it wasn't fear for myself I was feeling, I found that the street was still eerily quiet and empty. The sound of my beating heart and my steady pace were the only sounds I could hear outside of the normal sounds of the night, the whistle of the wind through the trees, the sounds of a fox, probably having come up here from the nearby woods, routing through someone's dustbin for example. Thinking myself stupid for getting a little spooked, considering how I probably spent as much of my time sneaking around in the dark as any being hiding in the darkness here, I turned to walk down a little snicket I knew from my childhood, as this estate was pretty close to the one Will lived on, would lead to the main road. Walking down the snicket, the spike topped metal fencing allowing me a glance into the gardens of the two houses the snicket ran in-between, I stifled a shiver at the cold temperature of the night, reminding me that it wasn't summer anymore and autumn was fast taking over. I was stepping out onto the pavement that lined the main road in no time and before starting to walk again I looked up and down the road for any sign of the familiar family car or my cousin himself, even though I guessed a bit of time had passed since I had left the farm. Joey wasn't anywhere in sight and with a glance at my mobile, which told me the time was no quarter past six and one whole hour since I had woken up, I started walking down the main road, past all the shuttered up shops that lined it.

The Southside was a little more awake here, the odd car zipped down the main road as early risers made their way to work or started the first leg of their long commute. A few pedestrians passed by me on the street, one or two of them staggering still from start of the week alcohol abuse and others rushing by heads down, trying to ignore how the Southside looked even more ugly in the early hours of the morning. And it did, as rough and unpolished as the Southside was by day it was twice as bad by night, the sense of community was absent now, no one talked to each other, everyone was too busy dealing with their own problems to notice anyone else, though I guess that I contradicted that. I was even more aware of everyone and everything around me now that I was putting off thinking about George and all my other problems, all of which seemed a thousand times worse in the stillness of the night. I never procrastinated, I never put things off or decided something was too bad to deal with; I met things head on and got done what needed to be done. Not now though, I couldn't deal with it just now and I had pushed it all from my head, focusing instead on the world around me.

Halfway down the main road I spotted a figure curled up in the doorway of one of the closed shops, a thin blanket wrapped around them as protection against the night, despite the significantly colder weather it wasn't so bad tonight and the figure had a blanket, which was more than some had, the coming winter was going to be bad for this person. My heart wrenched, as it always did when I saw a homeless person on the streets, I knew from being an outlaw and living in this town as long as I have that odds were this person was where they were now because of Baxter, Locksdale was a small town, the homeless population shouldn't be what it was for the size of our town, something tipped the scales and there were no prizes for guessing what. I hadn't realised that I had stopped completely until a busy looking man hastily walked past me as though I had been blocking his path, he was one of the people who had been walking around with their heads down as though ashamed of the area they lived in and he shot me a dark look as he passed. Returning his gaze with a glare of my own I span my bag around so that I could root around inside of it as he sped off without so much as a glance at the figure in the doorway who had held my attention, how people could be so oblivious and cold to the suffering of others was beyond me. Pulling my purse from my bag I found it empty but for two pound coins, remembering that I had to go to the bank to draw out some more money and knowing that they were all closed now. I zipped up my bag and put it back up on my shoulder, purse still in hand and heart bleeding I looked once more at the figure sleeping in the doorway, their thin dirty blanket pulled up over their head so that I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman and their muddy trainer clad feet sticking out from underneath the material.

Overcome by the desire to help and protect I looked up and down the street for someone who could do something, I found no one but what I did find instead was a early birds café open a little way down the road. Looking down at the two pounds in my purse and back at the café I thought which this person would most appreciate, two pounds to go and spend on what they wanted, but because of their appearance and social standing they would likely be turned away from whatever shop or eating establishment they went to for fear of thievery and them scaring away other potential customers. Or me going out on a limb. Deciding quickly I gave the person one last look, figuring they were so deep in sleep that they wouldn't be going anywhere before I got back, I then turned and carried on walking down the street, a edge of determination and purpose to my pace. Reaching the café I pushed open the door, flinching at the sound of the bell above the door ringing after the near silence of the street I stepped into the near empty café, the only person in there being a bored looking man behind the till, looking like he very much wished they didn't open at this time. Hurrying over to the man, who was slightly round and had greying hair atop his head, I ordered a tea to take out, pleased to find that it was just a pound. I could come back and get myself some with the other. Looking cautious and confused as to what someone like me was doing up at this time the man made my tea and I handed him a pound before rushing out of the café, careful not to spill the drink as I did.

I reached the doorway where the person was sleeping soon enough and debated about waking them, figuring that this person probably needed their sleep I left them be, stepping around them to set the foam cup of tea further in the doorway and up against the wall so that the person wouldn't knock it over if they moved. I was frightened by the proximity of the homeless person, I knew that this person was too weak and exhausted to even contemplate doing anything to harm me should they wake up and if they did it was only because I had made the mistake of invading their personal space, which was important to someone who had lost everything and was fighting to keep what few possessions they had left. I felt guilty too, I didn't know how long this person had been living like this, but I couldn't help but feel like I had failed them, like I hadn't helped them in time. Well I was making up for that now in some small way, I thought as I pulled back, stopping I looked down at my purse in my left hand and thought about the quid still inside it. Needing no more thought than that I took out the last pound and set it behind the foam cup, hidden from view but somewhere where the person sleeping here would find it, it still wasn't enough, but it was all I could give right now. Pulling back again I took a few steps back, wanting to kick myself for my weakness earlier and furious that it had taken seeing something like this again to figure out how stupid I was being. I couldn't afford to get like this again, feeling hopeless and helpless because all my troubles seemed too much to bear, I could bear this, because frankly people put up with a lot worse on a daily basis, I reminded myself as I came to a stop and continued to watch the homeless person. George was in a potentially life threatening situation and yes if there was anything out there that warranted me snapping that was it, but I wasn't going to be like this any more, I was a woman of action not worry and complaint, I wasn't going to sit here and be like this again. A first and last slip up, if something was happening to George now then the very second I found out I was going to do something about it, drop everything, rush over to save him, whatever it took. But I couldn't forget how much my heart was braking for the people of my town, I cared about them too and they deserved more attention than they were getting, tonight we would hand out all the money we had collected and hopefully things would start to look better for everyone and if they didn't then we would just keep trying and doing what we can. It was as simple as that.

Setting my jaw with determination but happy with the decision I had just made I was about to head back home, find Joey and apologise, then ring George since doing so couldn't possible get him into trouble now which was why I had been putting it off, when something stopped me in my tracks.

"Did he tell him?" a familiar voice asked, speaking quietly so as to avoid being overheard but failing do to the quietness of our surroundings, I froze where I stood, my back to the location I assumed the voice had come from.

"He did," a male voice I had never heard before confirmed though the very accent and aristocratic tone it had told me this person wasn't from around here. What were these two doing on the Southside? Wondered with a frown, especially HER, she was far too up on class pride to even consider slumming it down here and what where they talking about, did who tell who what?

"Good," the girl said a grin in her voice "he will be rid of those troublesome lowlifes soon enough if he follows my advise."

"Your cousin put the argument to him most persuasively; I should be surprised if he doesn't listen even if the boy is still young and very low down the hierarchy, he might not even mind being kept mostly in the dark about the plans if the results will be as good as you say." the male voice said in a hurried, secretive tone.

Curiosity and concern prickled inside me, this all sounded too familiar to me and I wasn't just talking about the first voice, was it possible that another aspect of my trip to the 'past' was true? Moving slowly so as to not attract suspicion should either member of the talking party I pulled up the hood of my coat, hiding my face in the shadow it provided meaning I could conceal my identity even though judging by the colour of the sky sunrise wasn't very far off. Still moving slowly I turned until the two people were within my line of sight; they stood a little way further up the road but not far enough that I couldn't hear what they were saying or that I couldn't make out their faces even in the dark.

"The best ideas come from the younger generations, we're the ones who will pave the way for the future and the sooner he realises that the better his business and this town will be. And let me assure you, the results will be every bit as good as I promised and even if my cousin does get the credit for the idea it will be worth it just to see it set in motion." Grace Gisborn said a sick dark glee to her voice as she stood there, standing close to her male accomplice dressed in a black version of the button up coat she wore in purple for college, the one with a tie around the waist so that her slim waist was even more exaggerated "let's go inside now," she whispered looking around but not noticing me "we can finish our exchange in there, I don't want anyone to overhear."

"Of course." The man replied as he looked down at her with a serious expression on his face where revolting happiness had been only seconds before. He was only young, maybe mid twenties at oldest though I was willing to bet that he was younger than that and it was only the long grey overcoat he wore, which probably covered a business suit, which made him look older. "Remind me again, why must we meet here?" he asked, curiosity and then disgust in his voice that made me hate him even as I started walking after them, unwilling to let this opportunity to find out if Grace really was the mastermind I thought she was pass me by, because it certainly sounded that way and I wanted to know what she was up to.

"It is important to know your enemies, to understand their way of life even indirectly." She answered as her low heels made a smart clicking sound on the pavement; my steps were now silent as I followed behind them.

The young man made a sound of respect, even though Grace was younger than him and often gave off the distinct impression off being a shallow airhead, though the shallow part was right if not the airhead description. Glaring at the back of the blonde girls head as a walked behind them I never stopped as they reached the café door and pushed it open, I kept my pace as they went inside before jogging after them, catching the door before it could swing shut and meaning I wouldn't have to risk exposure by opening it again and ringing the bell. Slipping inside I let the door slip shut, scanning the still deserted café, this time finding that the bored cashier had disappeared into the back, leaving the café completely empty, he would have heard the bell though and would likely be back soon.

Thinking briefly of the café I worked in, Café Locksley, and the shift I had there this weekend I spotted Grace and her accomplice settling into a booth at the back of the room, oblivious to my presence. Grace sat with her back to the door but the man who sat across from her would have been able to see me perfectly were he looking, he wasn't though and his mouth was moving soundlessly as he discussed something with Grace, something I was too far away to hear. Picking up an old newspaper from a pile by the door just in case one of them spotted me, I dropt low and crept my way down the café, out of sight and not making a single noise. Slipping slowly and carefully into the booth one space further forward than Grace's, meaning there was one empty booth between me and them, I rested my newspaper on the table, ready to pick up if spotted it was the one from yesterday, the one with that scandalous story about us in that as a group we had all decided the only way to sort this out was to find the imposters, something we would work towards tonight when Joe and Jess visited us at Sherwood. Keeping low in my seat I listened to Grace and the man speak, catching their words as they drifted over the booth between us, something I could only do from this distance due to the café's empty state.

"…but, that said, who is to say that your cousin is not going to help you establish yourself within the company now, after you handed him such a perfect plan, something that only you would have thought to do since your cousin doesn't have it in him to do it himself." The man said in a complimentary tone which had me wishing he would stop inflating Grace's ego any more than it already was and just get to the details about this plan of hers, it was all I wanted to know and the reason I had followed them in here.

"He wont, it is not the way we were raised. After all, would you do that? Help someone after they were stupid enough to give you your way in, you and I both know that you would betray them and step on their toes just to get yourself higher up, it is what any of us would do?" Grace said in a strong voice despite her seemingly agreeable if worrying (In terms of the human race as a whole) words.

"Then why bother?" the man asked sparking my interest "why gift him with this if you don't get anything out of this?"

"I never said that I wasn't going to get something out of this," Grace said that awful sly, stuck up tone to her voice which had me clenching my fists in anger just at the sound of it "my gain is a personal one, and I don't need my cousins help with getting into the inner circle, he isn't really there himself. No, I can do that on my own."

"So what do you get out of this?" the man asked, clear confusion if a little admiration in his voice. Wanting to hear Grace's response I pressed my head back further against the booth so that I was closer to them and perked my ear up more even though I doubted in would make any difference.

"It's very simple Henry, what I get from this is to be rid of the one thing that stands between me and power." Grace said sounding so pleased with herself, if not the cat that got the cannery the cat that had the poor little bird held down by the end of its tail feathers and I hated the thought of anything that made this vindictive and evidently dangerous girl that happy as once again I came to a conclusion. Grace was Gisborne, not Adam, he was dangerous and vile in his own right, but she was the real threat because I could take a good guess at just who stood in-between her and power.

"Hood?" Henry asked in a questioning voice and I strained to hear her answer, just to confirm my suspicions, however I never heard her confirmation.

"Are you back again?" a loud booming and considerably more awake than the last time I had spoken with it, voice asked causing me to jump because I was so wrapped up in what I was hearing.

Behind me Grace and Henry fell silent, cautious now that they knew that someone was in here with them and probably eager to silence whoever that was just in case they had over heard them. Damn it, why did the café owner have to come over?

Unwilling to use my voice in case Grace recognised it I only looked up at the round man who had served me earlier, not even trying to explain myself and my compromising position. Even I had to admit that sitting in his café, my hood pulled up over my head, a full bag on the bench beside me, slumped down hidden in a booth at something like seven o'clock in the morning, maybe earlier, didn't look too good. He probably thought I was a teenage runaway or something.

"Alright," the man said in a heavy Southside accent that probably would have had the two in the corner pulling disgusted faces if they weren't so worried about being discovered, though I wouldn't know since I couldn't see them "be like that, don talk to me then, but ya best be buying something if ya want to stay ere, this aint no charity."

Crap, I didn't have any money, not that I really wanted to stay here since then Grace and her accomplice would know who I was, if they didn't find that out thanks to this tactless bloke, and I could do without that. The look on my face must have told him that I was skint anyway as a stern look crossed his face and he moved to pull me to my feet, something which I didn't appreciated but rather than yell at him and risk Grace hearing me a ducked away from his grip and snatched up my bag, stepping around him I got to my feet on my own so that I could make sure my back was to Grace.

"Out," the man said in a harsh tone "if ya not going to buy owt, ya not staying in here, I don't need riffraff like you scaring away my customers." He told me as he went to grab me again and steer me to the door. Moving my arm out of his reach I thought of how unlikely it was that he was going to get anything other than 'riffraff' in here, it wasn't like Café Locksley which boasted playing host to the supposed middle class of Locksdale or Have Not's who were treating themselves, this was a proper Southside café, the majority of his customers would be people like me. Guessing that he was showing off for is obviously have customers, probably the first he had ever had unless Grace and Henry met here often at this time, I walked to the door under my own direction, trying not to hate the man who had ruined my chances of finding out what Grace was planning, he was only trying to make a living after all. I failed in not hating him though.

Muttering profanities the round man closed the door behind me the second I stepped out onto the street, that, I thought as I hitched my bag further up my back and brushed off the rude dismissal from the café as I'd received worse, did not sound good. Grace was plotting something, something that involved me or rather my alter ego Robin Hood and her rise to power. Whatever she had her cousin say must have been pretty important to have that kind of pull and I glared at the café door and the man beyond for throwing me out before I could find out what it was. Checking that no one was looking out of the café windows, no one was, I pulled down my hood and started walking up the main road again in the direction of the town centre, the half of which rested on the Southside homing my college, I was going to be early but I would take the long route so that I could think more about this. Now more than ever, I thought as I walked, I was determined to go and see Stephanie Kennedy after college today, from the security cameras we still kept up and running on the outside of her house just in case Baxter wanted to take another shot at them and George's conversations with her, I had learnt that Stephanie was currently taking a course at Highgate College and that she had the whole of Tuesday off. If I could catch her at home I could talk through my concerns about Grace with her and see what she knew about her, after all Stephanie had been close to George longer than I had, surely if anyone was going to know, she was. Of course, that thought brought me back to wondering what had happened to George and the helpless feeling that went with it, but, reassured by my new philosophy of action rather than worry I could control my fear somewhat better than before.

I mulled over thoughts of George, what I had just heard and what we were going to do if even the money we stole from Baxter wasn't enough, I soon crossed the distance I had to travel and found myself in town centre. Arriving at college at quarter past eight, bang on when the doors opened, I headed straight for the toilets, startling a cleaner who was still finishing up I walked into the toilets and headed for the mirrors. After putting on a bit of make up and retying up my hair, regretting the fact that I hadn't eaten anything yet but not the fact that I had given my money to the homeless person, I finished making myself look 'presentable' and exited the toilets. The college was a little busier now as students started to trickle in, in small groups, Jack was the first of my friends to arrive followed by Mark who still looked tired. George didn't have a lesson until second lesson so he wasn't going to be in yet, meaning I had an agonisingly long hour and a half wait to go until I found out what had happened. Jack and Mark understood my worry from the way that I fidgeted and frowned a lot, each of them telling me several times that George was going to be okay. Surprisingly though not one of them said anything about being worried about me or Joey having called them, I had assumed that he would thinking that I would want to be with one of my friends, however I appreciated that he hadn't, I had sorted myself out now and I didn't want my friends to worry about me any more than they already did.

Saying bye to Jack and Mark I headed to my first and only lesson of the day, law, which was unbearable given my increasing need to see George, as the time slowly ticked down to when I would be able to see him. I found law fascinating, mostly because I could see myself having a career in it, one which when I thought about I saw myself as a lawyer who made sure that the people who committed crimes paid for their actions and didn't get away with their crimes because they had enough money to pay for a good defence lawyer. I wanted to make sure that people like Baxter, though I'd never be called to work on such a case (If I was ever lucky enough that Baxter got what was coming to him) because the issue is too close to me, but I had to admit it was a thought that brought me much satisfaction, just imagining that I was the one who sent Baxter down. However, even the subject of law couldn't hold my attention as the hands slowly creeped round the clock, each minute passing so slowly I refused to believe that was all it was. I tried to distract myself, first with law and then with what I had overheard this morning, but neither could stop me from thinking about George and when an hour and a half finally passed I was the first one packed up and out of the classroom.

Pushing through the crowds of students I made my way outside and walked/jogged to the spot where I normally waited for George, just so that we could exchange a greeting before I went home and he went to his first lesson of the day. Waiting there I looked around, I spotted a few people from my classes, some of which smiled and waved at me and I returned their greeting the best I could, neither Jack nor Mark had made it out of their lesson yet and there was nothing to distract me, so I only stood their, anxiously waiting for George. I couldn't even bring myself to cringe at my pathetic behaviour, I was just so sick of doing nothing and desperate to see him. Tapping my foot I watched with mild interest as a black, expensive looking town car drove down the road that led to the college, catching my attention because it clearly didn't belong to anyone here. Then it got close enough for me to read the license plate, it read "B4X TR3" and I felt my heart start to beat faster in my chest, that was one of Baxter's town cars. The sleek black vehicle came to a stop a short distance up from the college and I stared at the tinted windows, wondering who was sat inside there and hoping it was who I thought it was. A few of the students walking down the road jeered at the pricey car, giving themselves pig noses as an insult to those inside, telling them how they felt about Haves, which was to say not too kindly. Normally I would have agreed with them, I wouldn't have pulled my nose up like they were but I probably would have laughed, however I was too preoccupied by how a smartly dressed driver was getting out of the car so that he could open the door for the passenger.

The driver stepped around the car and with a flourish that earned them even more laughter the man opened the back door; I waited with belated breath to see who would emerge from the black car, hoping it was George. It wasn't though, it was Grace, wearing her purple coat again now, who stepped from the car and eyed all of us 'little people' with superiority before proudly sashaying away from the car without so much as a nod in the driver's direction. My heart sank, it wasn't George, this wasn't good, I thought as my mind started rushing ten to the dozen at all the not so pleasant situations George could have found himself in after we had left him there. Fearing the worst but just about managing to keep my despair from my face as Grace shot me one of her superior looks, I watched and waited for the driver to shut the door off the car, trying to figure out what I should do next, if I should go to the mansion now or wait until after college when the rest of the gang would be with me. The driver didn't shut the door though; he waited there as though there was someone still inside and I felt my heart lift again as hope set in.

I can tell you right now, I have never felt so happy or as relieved as when George's blond head emerged from within the town car, his bright blue eyes were trained inside the car as though he were looking at someone still inside there, someone who was talking to him. There was a troubled and slightly angry look on his face as he took the sketch book that was offered to him by a hand, protruding from the car, but he was here; George was here and seemingly in one piece. He turned round then and I could see both sides of him face, I felt my heart drop a little when I took in the purple bruising around his eye and felt that dreaded déjà vue set in, it couldn't be could it?

My horror and anger didn't last long though as George said was looked to be thanks to the driver before turning fully to face the college and spotting me watching him, a slow building but dazzling smile lit up his face as his gaze met mine and it was all I could do not to run to him right then and there. I knew that I couldn't though people, especially Grace and whoever had been in the car with her and George, would get suspicious if I let on just how worried I had been about George, it would make it look like George had been guilty of something and that I was glad to see that he was still okay. I was of course, but not wanting George to be put in this position again I settled for smiling widely at him, an act which caused his smile to widen even more until I mirrored my own as he ignored the car behind him and Grace who had been watching our exchange with the look of a scorned lover, he then started towards me. Wanting desperately to run to him but knowing I couldn't I stayed where I was, itching to move towards him but letting him close the distance, wishing he would walk at a faster pace and wishing we didn't have to tone down our reunion. George continued walking closer at a leisurely pace, that gorgeous smile of his still in place but a look of restrained need in his brilliant blue eyes, I felt like my heart was going to explode we were so close and the look in his eyes was so intense.

George closed the last of the distance between us and pulled me into his arms, his grip around my waist firm and apologetic, feeling even more relief now that he was in my arms I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely, though no one watching us would have been able to tell. Gawd, it felt so good to hold him, to take in the scent of him first hand rather than suffering the ghost of his smell that hung around our house now, his cheek was pressed against mine and he buried his face him my hair but still he wasn't close enough for me, I had missed him so much.

"Robin," George breathed his breath tickling my neck "I'm sorry."

I nodded my acceptance tightening my hold on him a little though and whispering "you idiot, you self-sacrificing idiot, why do you have to do this stuff to me?"

George rubbed my back in a soothing fashion and I was too happy to do anything but accept that, I didn't think I could be truly angry with him right now, not when I'd missed him like I had.

"I know, but it was the only thing left to do," George murmured into my hair as he continued to rub my back "we'll talk about it later."

"You bet we will," I said threateningly though I didn't mean a word of it.

George started to pull away but I tightened my hold on him not wanting him to move yet, if ever, George chuckled at that and gave me another hug, a couple of lads were wolf whistling us and telling us to get a room but I couldn't have cared less and neither could George, but we were attracting attention acting like lovers separated for years not one day and I wouldn't have been surprised if Grace was getting suspicious so we pulled apart. I could see the reluctance that was undoubtedly in my eyes in Georges as well, neither one of us wanted to let go of the other just yet, but we didn't have a choice. Putting space between us grudgingly George still managed to smile at me, one which I felt in every part of me and seemed to warm me up inside.

"I've missed you," George admitted as the black town car drove off behind him, I nodded.

"I missed you too, but we wouldn't have had to if you weren't so over protective." I told him sternly; unable to even be annoyed when my words only prompted a chuckle from him.

"I wouldn't say over protective, but I think I have a right to want to protect you." he said taking my hand in his and squeezing it.

"You do, but then again so do I and that would be so much easier if you weren't being such an idiot." I retaliated tightening my grip on George's hand.

"Hum," George murmured, having eyes only for me as he raised my hand to his lips and gently kissed it, lost in his gaze I almost forgot my irritation and almost didn't see Jack and Mark standing a little behind George, looking relieved to see him safe, I smiled at them both before looking back at George "I'll try to be more accommodating the next time I'm saving you all." George said only the barest hint off annoyance in his voice, the rest was genuine regret.

"Sorry about that," I said realising laying into him wasn't the best way to tell him how much I'd missed him "I just don't like being helpless, and that made me feel helpless."

"It's okay," George said with a small sly smile "but you understand why I did that then."

I looked at him, a little stuck as to what to say now thanks to his logic, I could understand why he did what he did, I suppose given how I knew the feeling of helplessness would have driven me to do just about anything to be of use to George, so I could see why he stayed to distract the B.A if he thought it would help us get away. But that didn't make him any less of an idiot. I was torn between shouting at him and pulling him back into my arms again, though I doubted right now that I could yell at him so it was probably best to wait and let us deal with that later.

"I guess," I said to close to subject for now, but then I found myself looking at his black eye again and my heart dropped a little, thinking of my escapades in the 'past' and frowning angrily, something which caused George to pull a confused face though I had only one thought in my mind, Adam.

"What happened to your eye?" I asked resisting the urge to raise my hand to his purple bruise, it looked like it had hurt and I got a little concerned when George let out a hollow laugh that startled a couple of people walking past.

"It's nothing," He said "just Conner's way of making me regret giving cheek, pathetic really, because I'm not afraid of him anymore."

"It was definitely Conner, then?" I asked trying not to let my scepticism slip into my voice but probably not that successful "no one else?"

Confused and frowning at the question George said "Yeah, it was Conner. Who else would it have been?" the tone he used was so puzzled and I could tell that he really didn't know what I was talking about so I let myself drop it and laugh, Adam hadn't done this to him, it had been Conner.

"No one, it's not important, I was just worried is all." I said in an offhanded it doesn't matter sort of way which seemed to satisfy George as well as me as he gripped my hand a little tighter in a reassuring sort of way and nodded.

"All right, but you do know you worry too much, don't you?" he asked me with a cheeky smile that I couldn't help return.

"Yeah, I might have heard that before." I said jokingly and at that George's smile widened.

"I'll bet," he said before looking over my shoulder and noticing that all the other student were starting to go back inside for their lessons, he sighed "I really wish I didn't have to go inside."

"Me too," I said before looking at the sketch book in his hands and asking "why do you have that, you don't have art today do you?"

George looked confused for a moment before looking down at the book in his hands and saying "Oh, that." he smiled at me then as he looked at me and said "I told Conner that I'd come back to the mansion to get this, because I needed it for college." He shrugged and I grinned at him, glad he could think on his feet like that and proud that he was mine.

"Hey," George said looking over my shoulder "isn't that Joey?"

"Joey?" I asked turning around to look in the same direction that he was and sure enough, there was much cousin, standing outside the family car and looking at me and George. The memory of all the things I had said to him this morning came back and I instantly felt like crap, it looked like he wanted to talk. "Oh great."

**Author note: so there it was, chapter twelve, what do you think? It would mean so much to me if you could just push that green button and review, I love hearing from you. A big thank you to you all for being so patieint! :) x**


	13. Number one enemy

**Author note: not too long a wait since I last updated, I'm proud of that fact actually. Anywho, here is chapter thirteen, hope that you like it :)**

**Chapter thirteen: number one enemy**

**Locksdale College**

"I'll see you later then, yeah?" George asked me, his grip on our entwined fingers shifting as he looked at me from underneath his blond fringe, blue eyes intense.

"Yeah," I reluctantly agreed "but we're not going to stay in too long, we've got to be at the office by five, that's when we promised to meet Joe and Jess." I said reminding him, my voice was soft and absentminded though, troubled I was thinking about the whole thing with the imposters and how much I really didn't want to leave him right now. I had just got him back and I hadn't even had the chance to kiss him properly for fear that someone, cough-Grace-cough, might read more into our desperation and maybe link it with the break in.

"Okay, I should be back by half three anyway," George said looking towards the college doors and the steady stream of students still going in, he was going to have to head off now or else he'd be late, but I really didn't want him to go.

"I've got to go," he said turning his intense gaze back to mine, sounding more like he was convincing himself rather than me.

"You do," I agreed, taking him a little by surprise and maybe wounding him a tad as well, but not intentionally. I didn't want him to go, I'd just spent the past however many hours worrying about his well being and I didn't want to let him out of my sight, I wanted to talk to him about what had happened after the B.A had found him and I wanted to tell him what I had seen this morning. But I had to go and see Stephanie and I couldn't have the conversation I wanted to have if he was there and it was important for my sanity that she and I had this little talk. Also my cousin was still standing by the car watching us and I still had to apologise to Joey.

"Try not to miss me too much," George said with a shaky laugh, half joking, half hurt, his insecurities coming back into play and I softened again, but couldn't help but be a little agitated by his sensitivity, didn't he know by now how much I cared?

"You know I didn't mean it like that," I said tightening my grip on his hand and intensifying the force of my gaze on him "I don't want you to go but you've got to or it will look suspicious, and I've got something to be taking care off." George, clearly over whatever worry he might have had and likely chastising himself for it, pulled a concerned face before opening his mouth to ask what I was doing, probably hearing the determination in my voice. I didn't let him speak though, instead I sought to reassure him "it's nothing George, it's educational." Not a lie, but not quite the truth either, but come on, I couldn't have George know that I was sneaking around to talk to his friends about Grace, he'd think I was some kind of crazy, jealous girlfriend and not merely worried for his safety. I wasn't, jealous of Grace I mean, regardless of how the plotting bitch had just gotten out of the same car as George, indicating that she had spent the night at the mansion.

"Why don't I believe you?" George asked though he was smiling a little as he took a step closer to me and squeezed my hand. Because you know me too well, I thought as I shrugged innocently in response to his words, not about to say that aloud.

"You worry too much, that's why." I told him, thinking I could hardly talk about that and mildly embarrassed about the bothered state I'd been in since last night, maybe I should try and remember that George was a big boy and could take care of himself, I thought uncomfortably, but it was so hard to tell myself that when George kept on doing stupid things.

George sighed, letting his shoulders slump and pulling an unhappy face as he made the choice to head for class, giving in to the normal façade he would have to keep to stop anyone linking him anymore with the break in last night. Moving quickly George lent towards me, cupping my cheek with the hand that wasn't holding one of mine and gave me a swift but deep and intense kiss on the lips. Leaving me momentarily breathless with the passionate and intent behind that quick kiss, George pulled back and grinned at me, taking in my obviously stunned expression with some sort of masculine pride. And I could tell from that one look that our reunion wasn't over, just postponed until a more convenient time and a less public place.

Squeezing my hand he said "see you in a few hours."

"Bye," I managed to breathe, somewhat recovered from the shockingly intense kiss trying and failing not to look like a complete idiot. You would think that by now I would be used to kissing George, but apparently not.

Flashing me one more mischievous grin George dropped my hand and headed off inside the Sixth Form building for his lesson, I watched him go, half mesmerised by his stunning body and half procrastinating so that I wouldn't have to go and have an awkward conversation with Joey, who was likely still watching me. Heaving a sigh and figuring that I at least owed Joey an apology I turned and searched the street for him, it didn't take much to be honest and I spotted him a little way down the road leaning against the side of the red family car. Feeling like crap for yelling at him like I had, but still managing to keep my head high, I hitched my bag further up my shoulder and walked towards him, he watched me approach with a neutral expression on his face and I guessed that he was still mad at me.

"Hi Joey," I greeted my tucking my hair behind my ears the only visible sign of my embarrassment.

"Hi," Joey replied friendly enough, a small smile gracing his lips as he pulled his hands from deep within his dark blue jeans and pushed away from the car, Joey was dressed casually today and since right now he ought to have been working on the farm I guessed that he was taking an early lunch. "You need a lift back home?"

"Err, no," I said awkwardly "I'm going to visit someone, I was just going to go down to the bus station now actually."

"Don't bother," Joey said his tone pleasant "I'll take you." he said before walking around to the driver's side of the car.

"It's out of the way Joey; they don't live on the Southside." I told him thinking of the Kennedy's imposing manor house on the Westside.

"It doesn't matter, I'll have you there in half the time it would take the bus and you know it." Joey said and I couldn't help but mentally agree with him, not only because Joey had no one else to drop off and wasn't going to go the long way like the bus would, but also because he drove like a mad man. If Joey gave me a lift he'd turn what should have been a twenty minute journey into a ten minute one.

Feeling reluctant, not because of my cousin's driving skills but rather because I still felt really low about taking my anger out of Joey this morning and undoubtedly causing him to worry, I pulled open the passenger side door and got in. who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth, sure it would be an awkward journey but I'd get to the manor in half the time and get to apologise to Joey both. Dropping my bag onto the floor and buckling in I waited for Joey to start the car, trying to ignore how thick the tension made the air between us, worsened by the confined space. I hated arguing with Joey, we usually got on so well and as my substitute big brother he always had my back, it didn't feel right when we weren't talking properly and, not for the first time, I was cursing my big mouth for not thinking before I spoke. Putting the car in gear Joey hit the accelerator and headed off down the road at a speed for too great considering the chances of us hitting one of my fellow college students down here. I didn't really mind it though, I'd long since gotten over my fear of Joey's driving and although he sped around like a boy racer, I knew that my nineteen year old cousin was fully in control. Though I doubted that any police officers hanging around near by would be quite so understanding.

The click, click, click sound of the indicator filled the car as Joey turned right and headed into town centre and the built up industrial area of town. Shifting in the silence I decided that I had to break it or else I'd go mad, were it anyone else I could probably sit there and take it, but not with Joey.

"How come you've got the car?" I asked lightly "I thought mum took it to work with her."

"She did," Joey replied "I walked to the school and asked her if I could borrow it for a little while." I nodded in understanding along with his words and Joey let out a breath of laughter, no doubt at my obvious discomfort. Chagrined that he wasn't as bothered by what had happened between us as I was I folded my arms across my chest and frowned, I felt guilty for shouting at him and he thought this was a big joke, gee thanks cuz. "Where does your friend live then?"

"The Westside, Harrington Close," I answered still ticked that he was laughing at my discomfort and that I was the only one feeling it, though I still had the time to think that friend was kind of a loose term. Stephanie hated me, even if my friends and I had helped to save her and her sister's lives during the summer, when Baxter sought to extract his revenge against his dead former colleague turned enemy by killing his two daughters and his ex wife. Kennedy had turned away from Baxter, seeing him for the evil creature he truly was, at least if the letter we had received a day after Kennedy's death had been anything to go by. Anyway, Stephanie hated me because she had seen me as a threat to her getting with George, and though I had thought she was crazy at the time she had been proved right, and naturally that didn't make her like me any more than she already had.

Joey let out a low and appreciative whistle before throwing me a questioning look, clearly wondering who I knew that lived at such a fancy address, his expression then returned to normal, clearly chalking it all up to George.

"Do you know where that is?" I asked not really wanting this ploy of his to get me to sit still long enough to talk this through to go on for too long.

At my question Joey simply raised an eyebrow and said "believe it or not Robin, but I do actually know my way around the rest of the town as well, I'm not confined to the Southside when I'm driving." The playful tone almost absent from his voice.

"Okay, fair enough," I said thinking I had touched a nerve, who knew my cousin was such a revolutionist?

"Going to see how the other half live?" Joey asked me conversationally after a moment's silence.

"Something like that." I replied, thinking I was certainly going with the intention of learning something. Stephanie was the only person I knew semi-properly who had known George most of his life and I was hoping that she could tell me more about Grace, either disproving or proving my theory about the vile, blonde, stuck up toft of a girl. Of course, odds were Stephanie wouldn't want to talk to me, in which case I could only hope that she hated Grace more than she hated me.

The sound of Joey's radio, which was on an uncharacteristically low volume, trickled through the car and sounded weird, I was used to being nearly defended when I got in the car with Joey, I never minded the loud music but I really didn't like it on low like this. Clearly he wanted to talk.

"Relax Robin," Joey said grinning and looking at me out of the corner of his eye as he continued to speed through town centre at a slightly lower speed due to the traffic "you look like someone's jammed a rod up your backside."

Jaw dropping I turned to look at him "gee thanks, Joey, don't spare my feelings whatever you do." I snapped though I was secretly glad that he wasn't holding any hard feelings.

Joey laughed openly at my response "I wont don't worry, its just, gawd Robin I don't give a crap that you yelled at me. I'm used to your short fuse by now, so just relax, you're never embarrassed or awkward and I'll be damned if you act that way around me." He said going serious towards the end, clearly bothered by the tension between us just like me, it wasn't right; Joey and I were so close it was like he actually was my brother, heck; I got on with him better than I did our Alice! He was right, but still I shouldn't have yelled at him really.

"I'm not embarrassed," I said definitely and Joey scoffed not believing that for a second "but I am sorry that I yelled at you, I can admit to that."

Reaching the last set of traffic lights before we left town centre, they were on red so he stopped, Joey turned to look at me mock shock written across his face "Robin Hudson actually just apologised?!" he said as though it was totally unbelievable "bloody hell, alert the media, the world is about to end."

"Ha, ha, ha," I drawled sarcastically "If you're going to be like that I'll take it back."

"I accept," Joey grinned, ignoring my words and reaching over to ruffle my hair playfully just before the lights turned amber, at which point he slammed his foot down on the accelerator and we sped off.

Letting out a noise of outrage, which didn't run all that deep since I was too glad there was no hard feelings between us, I reached up to straighten out my hair with one hand and whacked Joey on the arm with the other. What was it with him and Will and messing up my hair? Joey chuckled and my mild anger evaporated.

"So you really don't mind that I yelled at you?" I asked cautiously just to be sure.

"Nah, I don't mind. Just don't go worrying me like that again. All the whacko's come out of the woodwork at night; I don't want you getting abducted or anything." Joey warned and I rolled my eyes, if only he knew the half of it.

"Yes, dad." I replied sarcastically but Joey only grinned, going all easy going again though I could tell that he had been worried.

"Is George okay?" Joey asked seriously after a moments silence where the offices of town centre shifted into the residential area where the lower Haves lived, we were just heading into the Westside of town now. Even though the lowest ranking Haves lived here each plot still held four bed, two bath houses with sizeable gardens, iron gates and security codes. We were starting to climb up alongside the economic ladder, merely watching as everything around us became more expensive and luxurious, the lowest point being the Southside of course.

"Yeah," I said thinking about how distressed I must have looked last night and how that couldn't have been an easy thing for Joey to deal with "it was a false alarm, I thought he was missing but he'd only gone to the mansion to get a sketch book for college and he ended up staying the night." I said sticking with the story George had told the B.A, thinking it was best to keep telling everyone the same thing. That triggered another thought and fearing punishment I turned to Joey and asked,

"Did you tell mum and dad?"

Joey shifted uncomfortably in his seat and didn't look at me, internally I groaned and felt my heart sink, great, my patents knew I'd disappeared in the early hours of this morning and they were going to kill me for it. Of all the times I'd snuck out over the past few months to help the poor they found out now when it was for a purely selfish reason. How was I supposed to go and talk to Joe and Jess if I was grounded? They were sure to ground me, not matter how old I was they'd still she sneaking off in the early morning as a punishable offense, damn, I hadn't long since been released from the grounding they gave me for joy riding with George and being brought back home in a police car (an offense which sounded worse than it was since technically the car had been George's dads and George had been doing the driving).

"No," Joey said almost shamefully, causing me to stop my inner ramblings and look at him. He hadn't told my mum and dad I'd run off? "I know I said that I would and I know that I should have but I didn't, I went out looking for you and when I came back your parents asked me where I'd been and I told them that you had to be in college early and that I'd dropped you off." He said with a guilty shrug "err, if you want to escape a grounding for the both of us I suggest you stick to that story."

"Don't worry, I will." I said relieved but thinking he was mad if he thought I might tell my parents the truth "but why didn't you tell them, I thought you said that you would?"

This time it was Joey's turn to sigh and look uncomfortable, I could tell by the way that he tightened his grip on the steering wheel and shifted in his seat that he had hoped that this question wouldn't have been asked. Joey's gaze flicked to me momentarily, a look of determination in his usually soft brown eyes telling me that he had to talk about this, that it was important and that look was what stopped me from ignoring my intense curiosity and telling him that it didn't matter.

"I don't know," he said reluctantly "I guess I just understand the need to run away." He explained and seeing that I understood no better what he meant he apprehensively continued "you were upset, anyone could have seen as much, and you felt trapped by that and had to get out of the house, like you couldn't stay still because of you did then nothing was going to change, you'd feel that hurt forever." He said and I felt my eyes go wide, he had just described almost exactly how I felt last night, absent all my other worries of course but that had been it.

"Yes, that's exactly how I felt," I told him knowing that Joey had always been able to read me well but confused as to how well he understood that "how did you know?"

At my question Joey looked at me briefly and smiled a sad smile before returning his gaze to the road "because that's how I used to feel," he admitted before letting out another heavy sigh and saying "I don't know how much of it you remember, when I first came to live with you all you were only ten and I don't know how much everyone told you about why I was moving in. You probably know this already, but when I was twelve my dad left, I don't have to go into detail about it, your mum and dad told you about it right?" Joey asked and I nodded.

Joey's dad and my uncle, Thomas Hudson, wasn't exactly a frequently discussed topic in our house and I wasn't surprised that Joey didn't want to or like talking about him. When Joey was twelve, almost thirteen, he had just upped and left not a word to his family or anyone else he had gathered all his things in the dead of the night and vanished, leaving town completely. Things had been really tight back then, or so I had been told since when your ten you don't really pay much attention to these things, and Joey and his parents had been living in one of the many houses that Baxter rented out on the Southside. Anyway, according to some of Thomas' friends he had been stressing out so much about the money and how he was going to afford to live in this town when Baxter kept upping his rent and everything cost so much, he had not long since lost his job as well and things were fast going down the tubes. Everyone reckons that he ran away from the money troubles, going to live somewhere else rather than deal with the crap here, though my parents say (when they think no one can hear them) that it was just a convenient excuse for him to leave everything behind and start again. Joey's mum, Aunt Holly, meanwhile was in way over her head and working only as a cleaner in one of the offices in town couldn't afford to keep a roof over her and Joey's heads. Heartbroken and stressed beyond belief Aunt Holly took on another job and ran herself into the ground, mum and dad had helped her the best they could but it hadn't been enough, she died over worked and despairing of over exhaustion. And so Joey came to live with us, we buried Aunt Holly revering her as the saint she was and Thomas' name became a swear word in our house, especially around Joey.

My mum and dad had told me most of that, and the rest I had overheard over the years as I grew up, knowing not to talk of Thomas' under any circumstances even to my grandma, who was the only one in the family to still think about her youngest son. So sparing Joey the need to tell me the whole story again, something which would surely upset and infuriate him, I nodded again and fought back the urge to comfort him, something that he wouldn't appreciate right now.

"Okay, good." He said meaning that I knew it all already, I could tell that he was trying not to let it bother him but the hurt seeped through into his voice when he spoke again "I didn't tell your parents because I ran away a lot then too, before I came to live with you, before my mum….when she was still alive, and then after…when I came to live with you all." He explained his face unreadable as he thought about his mum and the tragic circumstances of her death, his soft voice and false starts the only sign of the pain he felt.

"It's not the same Joey," I said gently not wanting to see him upset "me getting a bit worried about George isn't the same as what you went through."

At that Joey smiled sadly again but didn't take his gaze from the road "I don't know about that, from what I've seen you both care a heck of a lot for each other and there isn't that much difference between what happened to us both. Some arsehole left you hurt and forgotten and then you thought that you'd lost the person that promised they would never leave you too." Joey said and although I was shocked by the depth of what Joey had just said and how right he was I couldn't agree.

"I didn't lose George." I said knowing that I still had that person and that he hadn't left me yet, Joey's mum had though, she might not have wanted to but she had left him, even if he did have us it wasn't the same as having his parents with him. My heart went out to my easy going, joker of a cousin and I cursed Thomas' all over again for messing up his life.

"God Robin, don't be ashamed of that. I don't wish that you had, I'm just saying it's not as different as you think, you wanted to run away from all of that and so did I. I was a selfish plonker for doing that, I know that now, I was too wrapped up in my own anger to care that I was hurting my mum even more by running away all he time, she must have thought that I wanted to leave her too," Joey said shame colouring his words and his grip on the steering wheel tightening "I was brought home by the police more times in the months between my dad leaving and coming to live with you than I want to admit, you parents didn't deserve to have to deal with my crap either especially after they took me in, but I just had to get away, you know? I can't change what I've done, I never caused any trouble but it was dangerous being out in the middle of the night like that when I was so young, a few people offered me a place in their gangs and stuff like that, though I never got the chance to say yes before the police caught up with me."

I looked at him, thinking that it all made sense now, everything he'd said last night about George getting into trouble and understanding how I felt, I'd just brushed it off as him trying to make me feel better, I'd never thought that he might actually understand.

"It's none of my business what you do, Robin," Joey accepted from where he sat next to me, the air between us no longer thick enough to cut with a knife, but rather softened by sympathy and kinship "I was just worried that you were going to walk into trouble or something. I didn't tell your mum and dad because I didn't want to worry them like I did them and my mum, I wanted to deal with it and I'd have felt a hypocrite if I'd have told them anyway, especially since I can guess how you were feeling." He explained and I nodded, seeing where he was coming from "I didn't want to let them down again by not stopping you either."

"You're letting no one down," I said softly but with honesty making my voice strong as I reached out and rubbed Joey's shoulder briefly in comfort "you're family and as good as a brother to me and Alice and a son to my mum and dad, you're an idiot of you think otherwise." I added for good measure before continuing "and thanks, I appreciated you not telling them where I was."

Joey's pleased and thankful expression telling me that he was glad I had said what I had, but the colour in his cheeks telling me he was embarrassed as well as he shrugged "it was no big deal," he said as he turned down another road, us having progressed so far during our conversation that the houses surrounding us were significantly larger, we were almost at Harrington Close "just be careful, that's all I ask."

"I am careful, Joey." I told him seriously but he just laughed at me, all earnestness forgotten as he doubted my words.

"Yeah, alright Robin, because I believe that for a second." He retorted though he was still smiling.

"Again I say, cheers." I muttered sarcastically but with no real conviction, I was just glad that Joey and I understood each other again.

"You home for dinner tonight?" Joey asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, I don't really have a choice to be honest do I? I'd better be there anyway especially after not being there the other day, George and I aren't staying long though since we've got to get to the office." I replied sitting back in my seat and watching the houses pass us by.

"You got another decorating job?" Joey asked with mild interest.

"Yeah," I lied, thinking that it wasn't in keeping with the openness between us now but then remembering that I wasn't the only one in this car who kept secrets, the dark circles under Joey's eyes telling me that I wasn't the only one sneaking off on a night. I didn't say anything about that though "you doing anything tonight?"

"I don't know yet," Joey said with a shrug "I was thinking of giving Louise a call, her dad died the other day and I thought that she maybe could do with some company, she was really close to him and it hit her hard." Joey said his voice heavy with regret and genuine sympathy.

Trying to, and fortunately succeeding in, not looking guilty I thought about how I had met Louise the other day, devastated and trying to avenge her fathers death. I wondered how much Joey knew about the circumstances of Louise's dad's death and if he knew where she was now, living with Joe and Jess so that she could keep a low profile and avoid sharing her dads fate by association. The tightness around his eyes and of his hands on the steering wheel, a visible sign of anger, suggested that he might but he didn't say anything about it.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said sincerely and Joey nodded.

"I was too; he was a good man, but unfortunately a bit of a rebel too." Joey said his anger becoming more prominent in his uptight posture telling me that something to do with this bothered him greatly. I also couldn't help but feel like he had just said something important, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what.

I nodded for lack of anything else to do and employing one of my rare bouts of tact I decided against asking how he had died, knowing it had been Baxter and knowing it wouldn't be a good thing to talk about. We sat in silence for a few moments until Joey pulled onto the very long, sparse and familiar street where each house, or manor, had so much space between them and the next one that noise pollution wasn't a problem. Unless you were being attacked by an assassination squad armed with guns, then they heard you but only after a painfully long time. A fact we had learned on one of our last visits.

"Which number?" Joey asked.

"Five." I replied anticipation rising as we drove down the upper class street, with any luck I'd have some answers when it came to driving back down it.

Joey came to a stop at the gates of number five, there wasn't a guard house like there was at the Baxter Mansion but instead they had one of those little boxes with a microphone and speaker that linked to the house, I'd have to get permission to go in since I wasn't sneaking in today. I had debated over it, should I just hop the wall where the manor's security was at its weakest, something I had learned this summer while trying to protect it, and climb in through Stephanie's window? Something which would piss her off immensely, which if I was being honest was why I wanted to do it in the first place. Or should I be polite and knock at the door, meaning she was more likely to talk to me since I hadn't burst unannounced into her bedroom, but also had more ability to deny me access and turned me away. I had opted to be polite; hoping that Stephanie would appreciate that and let me in, it still seemed unlikely though.

"To live in a house like that," Joey said half impressed half appalled that they were allowed to live like that while they made our lives hell.

"Tell me about it," I replied unbuckling my belt and thinking about how I thought that every time I robbed such grandeur.

"And you definitely know the person that lives here?" Joey asked turning his gaze from the manor and back to me as I reached down to pick up my college bag.

Fighting back the urge to say 'unfortunately' I shrugged and said "yeah, she's one of George's old friends." Confirming Joey's earlier hypothesis.

"Makes sense," he agreed as I pushed open the car door "do you want me to hang around and take you home?"

"No, I don't know how long I'll be and dad'll probably want you back on the farm. I'll catch the bus back or something." I said swinging my legs out of the car and getting out.

Hitching my bag up my shoulder I turned to look at Joey as he lent over the seat and said "I'll wait until they buzz you in then, just in case."

Nodding in appreciation and thinking that might be a good idea, I said bye to Joey before heading over to the little voice box gathering all my ballsy attitude and pressing the button for attention.

"Yes?" a bored but still professionally polite voice inquired as the speaker crackled to life.

"I'm here to see Stephanie Kennedy," I said unsure of what else there was to say and conscious of the way my accent changed to match his.

"Could I take your name, Miss?" the man on the other end of the line asked, momentarily taken aback by the formal address but deciding I shouldn't really have been surprised by it I gave my name.

"Robin Hudson," I said knowing I might as well give them my real name so that they could turn me away now rather than when I got to the door and my ride left, however even if they did turn me away I wasn't going to give up that easy, I'd simply revert to plan B. wall hopping.

"If you would wait a moment Miss. Hudson," the disembodied voice said and I rocked back on my heels in boredom as I waited, guessing that he had gone to ask Stephanie if she knew anyone by my name.

There was the whine of the car window being rolled down and I turned to look at Joey, finding him sat there with his arms folded atop the window frame and his head resting on his arms.

"They in?" he asked.

"Don't know yet." I replied, thinking that I had done my research and that Stephanie should be home right now, whether or not she would see me being another matter entirely. Joey nodded and blew his fringe from his face with a breath as he waited, I smiled at him considering telling him to get it cut if it bothered him so much, knowing that he hated the idea of cutting his brown locks, it suited him the length it was anyway around his face in a fashionable style.

"You can come up now," the man's voice said, startling me and considerably less polite and I guessed that Stephanie had told him that I was no one important. Surprised never the less that she had let me in I waved bye to Joey as the little box buzzed, telling me that the gate was opening.

The gate slowly opened and I hurried through the second there was a gap big enough to get through, anxious to get up to the manor and have my questions answered. Fast walking up the small road that lead to the manor it didn't take me too long until I was knocking on the front door, I waited a brief moment before the door was opened by a tall, silver haired man wearing dark colours and a sombre expression.

"Come in," the man said not in greeting but rather a command and I recognised his voice as the one that had greeted my by the gates. Slightly unnerved but still standing tall I watched as the man ran his disapproving gaze over me and I became a little more conscious of my appearance. Wearing the jeans and top I had thrown on this morning, with my thrown back hair, last minute make up job and dark circles under my eyes I probably looked every inch the Have Not poster girl. And even though he obviously worked for the Kennedy's this stuffy old man still found the pride to look down on me.

Following him inside and riled by his silent put down I folded by arms across my chest when he came to a stop in the entrance hall.

"Miss. Stephanie will be down in a moment." He said his revulsion dripping from his voice and clear in his expression, he probably thought I was going to try and steal something.

"Tah, Jeeves, I'll wait here for her." I said spitefully, but come on, did you honestly expect me to just stand here and take his glares, what had I ever done to him?

Offended Jeeves pulled a dark expression which I ignored as I looked around the room, noticing that it looked more or less exactly the same as it had pre assassin attack and that Stephanie and Claire's mum had had it repaired almost identically. I stifled a shiver as I thought about the last time I had been in here, running for my life as several mad men with guns tried to kill Stephanie and Claire, fun times, I thought dryly.

"You can go now, Edward." The voice of Stephanie Kennedy rang out across the entrance hall and as both Mr. Prejudice pilock and I turned, finding her standing at the top of the stairs and looking down at us both with distaste. But maybe that was just me.

Shooting me one last glare Edward, a.k.a Jeeves, turned and swiftly strode back to whatever hole he had just crawled out of. Meanwhile Stephanie remained where she was, looking down at me from the top of the stairs she looked absolutely no different than the last time I had seen her. Her long dark hair was straightened perfectly stopping at just before her waist without a single wave in it; she was dressed this time in a hip hugging, high waisted black skirt that stopped a little above her knees with a white shirt tucked into it, thick black beads hung around her neck and she looked her usual blend of slutty sophistication. God knows how she managed that. This told me that she had not long since just got back from Highgate College, where there was a uniform policy.

"What do you want?" she asked sharply coming no closer to me and putting her hands on her hips.

Thinking that she didn't beat around the bush I replied with "to talk."

At that she made an ugly face before flicking her long hair over her shoulder and saying "what makes you think I want to talk to you?"

Rolling my eyes I said irritably "can we not go through this again, this is kind of important."

"What do you mean?" she snapped harshly.

"What do you think I mean? I didn't just say it was important for the good of my health you know." I said, not about to admit to why exactly I was here when we were still standing in the entrance hall, where anyone could hear us. Though that said, it didn't look like any of the other Kennedy's was in the house right now.

At that Stephanie's expression changed, mild hate was swapped for outright fear and I watched as she assumed the worst.

"Come up," she commanded before promptly turning and heading back into her bedroom, the first on the landing. Not bothering to tell her that it wasn't what she thought it was, that Baxter wasn't gunning for them again, since that misunderstanding had gifted me a chance to talk to her privately I hurried up the stairs and into the hateful girl's room.

Shutting the door behind me I looked around her room, noticing that unlike her, her bedroom had changed slightly, she had a new carpet down, since Mark had bled all over the old one, and new curtains on her four poster after she had torn one down in the summer to help patch up Mark's wound. Looking worried and irritated in equal measure the raven haired girl turned back to me.

"Have you heard something, is he going to try again?" she asked worriedly toying with her hair "where's George, what do you know?"

Feeling only slightly guilty for letting her believe that she was in danger again I tucked a strand of hair, which had fallen out from my pony tail, behind my ear.

"Er, about that, we haven't exactly heard anything about that; to be honest I reckon Baxter has moved on." I told her, wondering if maybe I'd pushed her too far with this and that she might see fit to tell someone who I really was because of that. Up until she and her sister wrote the article for the Locksdale Star, a outlawed news paper that printed the stuff the Inquirer wouldn't, that ultimately saved us from being branded killers George had suggested that we reveal our identities to her as a sign of trust, which had been alright for him since she wasn't about to grass on him any time soon, the rest of us had been somewhat sceptical. However we had agreed to his idea and Stephanie and Claire had been sworn to secrecy, I just hoped that she would remember that.

"Then what," she asked furiously "are you doing here letting me believe otherwise?"

Opening up my hands in a show of innocence I looked at her and said "I didn't do it on purpose, you'd gone off before I could tell you that wasn't it."

"Get out," Stephanie snapped, clearly pissed off that I had let her get frightened like that "I don't owe you anything, I saved your sorry reputation by telling the truth about my dad, I don't care what you've come to ask me."

"What makes you think I've come to ask you anything?" I asked knowing that was why I was here but saying it anyway. "And I helped save your life, surely that counts for something."

Ignoring me Stephanie carried on "Because you are too blind to see what's right in front of you, you might have opened your eyes to George but that doesn't mean that you have with anything else. So you need to ask me things." She said storming past me to the door.

"That's rich coming from you," I retorted, thinking she'd never said one intelligent thing in her life despite her fancy education.

"Get out," she repeated holding the door open for me and gesturing for me to leave.

"No," I said folding my arms across my chest and taking a bold stance, I didn't not come all this way to let her turf me out like this "I'm not going anywhere until you hear me out."

"Fine," she barked a cruel smile curving on her overly rouged lips "I'll call security and they'll see you out."

"I'd like to see them try," I retorted thinking I could take them easily and that it was odd how much she hated me when all I'd really done was get together with George. But then again I supposed that was all I needed to do to get her mad.

"So would I," she said before turning to go and fetch someone, knowing this wouldn't help me leave with the answers I needed I couldn't let her go and get them, so instead I called,

"Stephanie, just listen to me, I need your help."

"Don't care," she called back before heading towards the stairs, jogging to the bedroom door and worried that I'd be thrown out on my backside before I found anything out I decided to sod it.

"What do you know about Grace Gisborn?" I asked suddenly taking her by surprise, Stephanie froze.

"Grace Gisborn?" she echoed looking at me over her shoulder, dark understanding and hate in her eyes.

"Yeah," I confirmed and Stephanie promptly abandoned her quest for a security guard and walked back towards me.

"What about her?" she asked a sharp edge to her voice suddenly interested in what I had to say.

"You know her then, you know who she is?" I asked, wanting to be sure, before I spilled my concerns to her, that we were on the same page.

"Of course I know who she is," Stephanie snapped her expression clearly saying that I was an idiot for even asking the question, I let that slide expecting nothing less from her "she's a friend of the Baxters and of George, why do you want to know about her?"

"Because she's at Locksdale College with us," I told her and Stephanie frowned.

"Why?" she asked as she ushered me back into her room and shut the door "she doesn't live around here."

"I know," I said glad that she was being less hostile now and seemed to understand the gravity of this situation, if the grave look she wore was anything to go by anyway, it made me anxious to hear what she would say "she lives down in Nottingham, but for some reason she's going to college up here."

"I can imagine why she is here, the same reason she always was." Stephanie said in disgust.

"George," I said frowning myself now as Stephanie nodded "I knew it, I knew I wasn't overreacting."

"No, you are," Stephanie disagreed causing me to glare at her " or at least she'll make it look like you are, that's what she does."

"What do you mean, has she done this before?" I asked slightly desperately and at my tone Stephanie seemed to realise that she was being halfway civil with me and bristled.

"Why should I tell you that?" she asked throwing me a superior look and walking away from me to go and sit at her vanity "it won't do me any good to help you."

Angry that she was withholding this information from me out of spite I crossed the room to where she sat, determined to get what I came for "what, so you'd sooner see her get her way?" I asked sharply "because she is up to something, I can see it every time she looks at me or talks to George, she's got a plan formulating in her twisted head and it won't have good consequences for George."

"Maybe he wants to be with her, you ever think of that?" she asked me in a nonchalant way, through looking in the mirror at her reflection I could see her silent agreement at my words.

"Maybe," I said though it killed me to even consider that George could want to be with the manipulative cow "but somehow I don't think that all she wants is to have George to herself, it's more sinister than that." I said thinking about all that I had seen in the 'past' which was why I was even here in the first place, back then Grace had been a deadly puppet master, not really caring for George but just wanting the power that came along with having him. Would I be right in thinking that was the case here?

"She just wants George," Stephanie said not nearly as dismissive as before, making me think she was questioning herself "that's all she's ever wanted, even when we were kids she'd come up here and take up all of his time, none of his other friends ever got a look in especially me. She saw me as a threat so she kept him at a distance, even if it was just for a few weeks." She said making a superior noise at the end to show that Grace hadn't been successful and she was still friends with George, I didn't bother to point out that she hadn't been successful either as Stephanie wasn't the one seeing George.

"I don't doubt that she wants George," I told her as she needlessly applied another layer of lipstick "I just think she wants him for other reasons, like power."

"I don't think so," Stephanie replied her words punctuated by the sharp click of the lipstick lid going back on "she doesn't need power, she comes from some high blood family in Nottingham and has all the money she could ever need, and she doesn't need any more."

"Yeah but Nottingham isn't like here, they don't have the dictator system we have here, she might have money and standing there but she doesn't have control, not like she would if she took over Baxter's affairs." I told her and she turned to look at me, doubt in her eyes.

"So you think she wants to get together with George, not because she cares about him or anything like that, but rather because she wants to take over from Baxter and run the town?" she asked her eyebrows raised.

"Yes," I confirmed, thinking of the 'past' again and how that had been the case there and not stopping to consider how crazy I was for linking the two even if there had been a number of similarities recently, Louise's situation being one of them.

"I say you're crazy," Stephanie said dismissingly "she doesn't need any more power and it's just sick to do all that so that you can have ultimate control over a town, there's only one person who would do that and unfortunately he's still doing it." she said, her new hate for the man who had killed her father heavy in her voice.

"But Stephanie, are you sure that this isn't something she would do, you know her better than I do but isn't this what she's like?" I asked watching hopefully as Stephanie thought about that, as much as I wanted this not to be the case I was so sure that it was, having thought about it like I had I was sure that Grace was more than just a threat to mine and George's relationship, she was dangerous.

"All right, I'll agree that it does sound like the sort of thing she'd do since she's done it in the past," Stephanie admitted grudgingly "but why would she bother, it's like I said she doesn't need the money?"

"She's done this before?" I asked catching something Stephanie probably didn't want me to hear if her expression was anything to go by, she turned back to face her vanity and started rearranging perfume bottles nervously.

"That came out wrong, she didn't do it." Stephanie amended but didn't go into any more detail, vastly interested and not about to let this drop I prompted her.

"If she didn't then who did?" I asked and Stephanie pulled a face.

"I don't have to tell you anything." She snapped and I felt myself frown and my patience wane, I could tell that this was important and that she was trying to hide this from me, that seriously pissed me off I could tell that this would either paint me as a raving loon or tell me that I had been right to think that I had. Why wouldn't she just give up this bitch crap and tell me?

"Stephanie, tell me what you know." I demanded and she took a breath as if to tell me to get lost, at least that was until she spotted my expression, one I could see reflected in her mirror as one of intense determination and desperation. Maybe it was a bit threatening as well, but hey, George could be in danger here, what did you expect me to be like?

"God," she breathed meeting my gaze through the mirror "this is that important then?" I didn't say anything, I just continued to look at her praying that she would give me what was obviously vital information "all right," she groaned giving in "I'm not even supposed to know about this, I overheard my parents talking about it once but no one knows, not even Baxter and I swear if this gets out and I'm caught up in it somehow you'll regret the day you were born, do you hear me Hudson?" She threatened shooting me a dark and serious look which had me even more interested, I made no promises but she seemed not to need one as she heaved a sigh and said,

"I know that someone tried to do that, what you were stupidly suggested, before because someone tried to do it to Baxter, like years ago when he was still young and seeing some Southside girl." she started and I nodded, thinking she meant George's mum who had grown up on the Southside before marrying the evil dictator "and I suppose that its possible that Grace might try and do the same to George because," she let out another irritated groan before all but snapping "because it was her mother who tried and failed to do it to Baxter. She tried to seduce Baxter so that he would marry her and she could take control."

**Author note: okay, honestly really is the best policy guys, I'm iffy about the ending here yet again but I can't seem to put my finger on what I don't like, if you could help me out I would much appreciate it and make the necessary alterations. Please review and let me know what you think. Oh and a massive and long overdue thank you to my amazing reviewers Dares to Dream and MissMolly02481 for their patience and dedication! :) x**


	14. Heres hoping

**Author note: A long one here for you guys, I wanted to get this one up a little sooner than I have but fate transpired against me, hopefully the length will make up for that in some way. Enjoy :)**

**Chapter fourteen**

**Sherwood House**

The atmosphere at Sherwood was more than just a little bit tense, as we waited for Joe and Jess to arrive. Every Tuesday at an unspecified time, the twins would show up at the office to share information and money with us that they couldn't under normal circumstances without raising suspicion, for example it would look pretty odd if we exchanged loot whilst at college, so the arraignment makes sense really. After that we would then go out to the drop offs, usually with Jess and Joe tagging along. Today would be different though, we all knew that, I was going to have to ask some very hard questions when they got here and that had all of us on edge.

"What time are they supposed to be here by?" Will, who had been pacing by the notice board for the past ten minutes, asked.

"Whenever they get here," I answered from where I sat at the head of the meeting table with my fingers curled around the warm mug of tea I was drinking more for something to do than to quench my thirst. "You know they show up whenever they want to, not at any particular time."

Will grunted in response and carried on pacing, meanwhile I shared a concerned glance with Jack, who was sat to my left and had been watching Will worriedly ever since he took up his pacing. This situation was affecting us all in different ways, Will's was perhaps the most obvious and he had been acting like he was now, twitching and asking questions, ever since we arrived here this evening. He appeared irritated and angry at Joe and Jess, but we all knew that he was really just frightened of what might be said. The issue with the imposters had been praying on our minds for days now and we had to sort this out. The fact of the matter was, Joe and Jess very much had their fingers on the pulse of this town, if they didn't know anything at all about these imposters then no one would and that would leave us right back at the beginning with no answers or direction to head in. But that wasn't the worst case scenario, not even by a long shot; Joe and Jess were the only people who knew enough about our style to pass it on to the imposters, even though not one of us wanted to believe that they would we couldn't just ignore this fact. If we left them to it, skirting around the issue for fear of insulting them or else losing two close friends and it turned out that they were betraying us whoever was pretending to be us there was no telling what could happen and what we could be taking the blame for, it could be a repeat of the Kennedy incident all over again and that was the last thing we needed right now. I hated that we were being suspicious of people we considered our friends, but it was my job to make sure that my gang were safe and I wasn't about to let someone selling our secrets jeopardise that.

From the kitchenette came the clanging sounds of Mark nervously washing our rarely used teapot. I knew he was doing it out of nervousness because he had been stood there for five minutes and I was sure that it had to be clean by now. This was the only sound in the office, aside from the beeping of Mark's various inventions and the noise of paper being ripped as John absentmindedly tore up sections from the newspaper (one that last nights burglary had made the front page of and was now pinned to our wall in pride of place) at the other end of the meeting table before balling them up and aiming to flick them into Will's untouched mug of tea. Like I said, we all handed stress and anxiety differently, Will worried and paced, Jack turned her concern onto something else such as Will's behaviour, Mark procrastinated, John messed around and I planned, trying to appear in control.

Right now I was sketching out a plan for tonight's drop off, one which I wouldn't be going on since I was planning on feigning sickness after we had interrogated Jess and Joe. I wanted to go, heck there wasn't a lot that I wouldn't sooner be doing than what I had lined up for after this evening, but sadly I had no choice. Stupid blackmail, I thought as I went over the last word I had written with unnecessary pressure and frowned deeply. After we were done here the others would go and distribute any money Joe and Jess gave us (if everything went well) and the money we had stolen from Baxter last night, a thought that gave me immense satisfaction. I on the other hand would be heading off to spend and hour of unimaginable torture somewhere I had sworn I would never set foot again, Adam's house. I had been trying not to think about it. I wasn't at all resigned to my fate but I knew that there was no way out of it, I had exhausted all possible loopholes and come up empty, I was going to have to go and put up with whatever he dished out because if not then George would be in serious danger. Stupid cheating ex boyfriend, I thought going over that one word yet again, he knew all my weaknesses.

"I think that word is clear enough now, Robin," George said softly from my right hand side, bring my attention to him. "It'll be all right you know." He added meaning our talk with Jess and Joe, and I nodded though I didn't believe it. We might experience some sort of miracle where Jess and Joe were concerned and this might all be some big misunderstanding and we might find that they aren't selling our secrets on to imposters, despite how the evidence suggests that they are. But there was absolutely no way out of my 'date' with Adam, but George of course didn't know about that and that was how it was going to stay.

George had been oddly calm all of day, well…maybe not all day, when he'd gotten back from college a few hours ago and we had had a chance to properly express how much we had missed each other last night and how frightened I had been and how sorry he was for doing that to me, he had been anything but calm. However that aside George had been very composed and very unruffled all day long, so much so that I would say that the thing with the imposters didn't bother him at all, or at least I would if I couldn't see the worry in his big blue eyes; the true emotion was hidden deep inside underneath years of Baxter conditioning. I set down the pen and reached for my mug again, taking a quick drink but hardly tasting the warm liquid as it rushed down my throat, when did my life turn into this? I wondered. Being suspicious of close friends and going to ex boyfriend's houses on a night behind my current boyfriend's back, this wasn't good. This wasn't how I thought things would turn out, but I knew full well couldn't change my life now, I was in a sticky situation and I was going to have to roll with it, as much as I hated the thought of doing so.

"They won't have told anyone anything, you know. They're not like that." John said suddenly not looking up as he flicked another tiny ball of paper, it landed in the mug this time but John's pleased smile was short lived as the gravity of our current situation hit him again.

"I know, John." I said as I set my mug back down, making no move to pick up my pen again, not because I didn't want to but because the route the others were going to take tonight was planned out already and I had nothing else to do. I honestly agreed with John, I had gotten to know Joe and Jess pretty darn well over the past few months and I knew loyalty was important to them, they would never betray us like this because they were good people, despite their pick pocketing habit turned toft robbing, which really had been nothing but useful to us. But still, I had to be sure.

"How do we know that though?" Will asked looking at us all as he walked "someone is telling people our secrets and they are the only ones who know enough to tell them our style, the imposters copy it almost exactly according to the papers. It's no wonder they think it's us doing all those things." Will told us as he gestured at the paper John was shredding for his own amusement, it was about as much as the wrag was worth in my opinion, you couldn't so much as trust the date on the Locksdale Enquirer.

"I know that, Will." I said looking meaningfully at my best friend, he was a born cynic but I knew that he didn't really believe what he was saying, the others might not though and I didn't want everyone even more wound up then they already were. We needed to be somewhat open minded when they got here, we couldn't convince ourselves that they were guilty before we even asked them anything, we owed them as much.

"But John's right, this is Joe and Jess we're talking about here and we need to give them the benefit of the doubt. All of us are bad for jumping the gun without giving someone a chance to explain, remember how you all jumped to conclusions about Josh when we broke into the Academy and I ended up in hospital? That turned out to be a huge misunderstanding and you assumed that just because he was the only one we told that he was the one that gave Conner the time and place we were meeting them. We owe it to Joe and Jess to give them chance to speak, we need to trust them." I said in an authoritative tone that I hadn't meant to use because it sounded almost as though I were telling my close friends off for being worried and sceptical, which I wasn't, I just didn't want them to lose faith in the twins just yet. We needed our friends and it would be a blow for us to lose them.

Will said nothing, he just looked anxious and carried on pacing, he knew that I was right and I knew that my hospitalisation was still a sore spot with them all, Vince had gotten what was coming to him for divulging our secrets to the Conner, but the others still weren't happy about what had happened and understandably so. However I knew that they regretted the quick accusation of Josh and hoped that it would remind them that we could be wrong, that Joe and Jess might be innocent.

"Gawd, Robin," John said a smile in his voice "when did you get all wise and calm then?"

I grinned at my friend, pleased by the shift in tempo but inside I was still on edge and only just resisting getting up and pacing with Will, so that I showed my friends that it wasn't as bad as we thought it was, even though it very well could be. My stillness was a show of control and a device to keep everyone else clam. I was far from calm and certainly not at all wise, but I would pretend to be for the benefit of my friends. In reality I wanted to know exactly what was going on, I wanted to be able to shout at whoever was selling our secrets and, most importantly, I wanted to be able to stop this before any of my friends got hurt since there was no telling what the imposters knew about us or what their intentions towards us were. Though I wasn't sure what my chances of being able to do all of this were.

"I haven't," I said still smiling though my worry was reaching fever pitch inside me.

"Thought not," John continued with a grin still in place, which I returned though I didn't say anything else. I was sure that that had been a crack at my usually headstrong and somewhat angry nature but for John and I it held a double meaning, he could tell that I wasn't as composed as I was making out and he was trying to soothe me, in his own John like way. I appreciated his attempts but I was still unsettled and Will was still pacing.

"He needs to stop that, he's going to work himself up before they even get here," Jack whispered to me, her concern evident in her tone and her expression, I nodded in agreement and she span in her chair to face Will "Will," she called, an authority all of her own ringing clear in her voice, brought on by worry. My troubled black haired friend looked up as his name was called but did not stop his pacing "sit down please." She said sternly, the please added on to make her sound less harsh but no less powerful. It was a mixture of a stern command and an upset plea which obviously summed up just how hurt and concerned Jack was, if Will didn't respond I would be surprised.

Will stopped and looked as though he might argue, but then he truly looked at Jack and spotted something in her expression that caused him to go still, whether that was the strength of her current serious demeanour or the intense worry I knew her eyes held for him, I wasn't sure since she had her back to the rest of us. However I do know that after that Will came, somewhat unwillingly, to sit with the rest of us at the table, taking up his usual seat next to Jack. The office was silent for a moment, each of us lost in our own thoughts, wishing that either Joe and Jess would show up or else one of us would say something. The latter happened and I watched as beside me a look of remembrance crossed George's face and he turned to me, a new urgency in his powerful blue gaze.

"Robin, did you tell them about what we saw in Baxter's diary?" George asked taking me aback slightly; I hadn't expected him to come out with that. Somewhat distracted by how John (as gleeful as ever) fought back a snigger at the thought of Baxter keeping a diary, clearly thinking about it in the traditional sense and not as a date book, I turned to face George.

"Er, no," I admitted ashamedly "I forgot." I told him though in truth, anything interesting that might have happened while in Baxter's home office had been forgotten that night in the wake of George's 'capture' and my fear for him. Not to mention my angry outbursts, which I was glad no one had brought up yet, because that had been bad even for me.

"Do you mean about his meeting with Richard Baxter?" Mark, who had been listening in on the headpieces yesterday, asked from the kitchenette his voice suddenly alert and after a nod of affirmation from George Mark added "I told them about it already, not much obviously since you didn't talk though it much and we had other things to be worrying about when I explained it. I told them though; Robin didn't look up to it."

Thanks Mark, I thought sarcastically as George's questioning gaze turned to me, sure, now he looked concerned. Wishing that my smart friend had used some common sense and not added that last little nugget of information there, I turned back to face the others, deliberately avoiding looking at George. He didn't know the full extent to my condition last night and it was going to stay that way, I didn't want to come across as unhinged or anything, also he'd ask questions and in order not to sound obsessed I would have to tell him that part of why I was so upset was because of the lengths I went to, to keep him safe and I didn't want him knowing about that either. Too many lies, I thought before addressing my friends.

"Yeah that's the one George meant, Mark," I said hitting the 'k' in Mark hard with emphasis of my irritation, hoping he would pick up on that and stop making me sound like an emotional wreak "how much do you all know then?" I asked turning back to the others, this new revelation about Baxter's plans was vital, it was a disaster and could ruin everything we had tried so hard to achieve, but before we acted to stop Baxter's plans we needed to know what everyone knew.

"That things are worse than we thought," a worried and obviously even more stressed Will told me and this time Jack nodded along with his concern.

"Mark told us that Baxter is meeting with the deputy PM and that he's his brother, is that true?" Jack asked anxiously, her gaze going to George, who I was trying to pretend wasn't looking at me suspiciously, as she asked her question. She looked intrigued, I was too, everyone knew who Richard Baxter was but not one of us had thought to make the connection between the two, aside for George who knew full well who his uncle was. It was odd to think that the soon to be Prime Minster was my boyfriend's uncle, not that it made any difference of course, it was just strange to think about.

Not realising straight away that Jack was talking to him George was silent for a moment before he spoke, stumbling a little as he tried to answer "Er, yes, it is. Richard Baxter is my father's brother, he just happens to be the deputy Prime Minster as well and my father's date book said that he was meeting with him yesterday."

"And didn't you say yesterday that they didn't speak any more?" Mark asked as he walked from the kitchenette to take his seat at the other end of the meeting table.

"Yes," George confirmed, his tone as sombre as if he were telling a family that the very worst had happened to their loved one, lending an understanding of how serious this conversation was before he had even started "I'm sure you all know by now that my father is a politician, not just a businessman, his grip on his town is proof of as much. He's got far too much power for just a local businessman and he obtained that with his business savvy." George said meeting each of our gazes as he told the story, his expression holding a look of slightly sarcastic mirth, telling us exactly what he thought of his father "I don't think he ever really wanted to be stuck here, running my granddads businesses; he wanted to go into politics and even joined a political party with my uncle. However my uncle was voted in during the local elections instead of him and my father couldn't progress any further, he resented him for it and the two haven't spoken in years." George explained and I nodded thinking that it made sense; I wouldn't have voted Baxter as my local MP either, the charismatic but obviously menacing Baxter had nothing on his older brother's charming and honest nature, even if it was only a show. "So my father is here running Baxter Industries and my uncle is in London about to be promoted to Prime Minster."

"The Prime Minister is stepping down next month, isn't he?" John asked and George nodded "so you think that because of what the legends say, Baxter is going to try and beat his brother to the job, by whatever means necessary, am I right?" John asked and George nodded in response, that had been our initial thought in Baxter's home office and I was sure that was what everyone else was thinking too. It made sense really. "What if that's not it though, what if Baxter has just accepted this and decided all he wants to do is torture Locksdale for the rest of his life? He might not want to be PM any more." John said though his voice was someone what sceptical. I wasn't surprised knowing as he did now, how along with the tragic circumstances of George's mum's death, why Baxter felt the need to be such an arse to this town, because in his eyes he should have moved on to bigger and better things.

"I don't think so, John," George said shaking his head somewhat sadly "he hates my uncle with a burning passion and would sooner apologise to the whole of Locksdale for robbing them blind than reconcile with Richard. I know it. My uncle is everything he's not, honest, loved by the public and about to become PM, of course he hates him."

"So you think the trip is a plot for Baxter to get in with Richard again, but only long enough to usurp his position?" Jack asked her dark eyes still hard with determination and worry.

George nodded "Either by making him look bad or by more serious means my father is going to try and take the Prime Minster spot away from my uncle, it'll be hard but he's got more than enough hate to fuel to job. My father resents him more than any other person, hating how my granddad always favoured him and encouraged Richard to excel while sitting him up in line to take over the family business. He told me once that it was why he never had any other kids, he said he was doing me a favour." George scoffed in disbelief before continuing with "The meeting couldn't possibly be anything other than a plan, and I'd be surprised if Richard didn't know as much already but maybe my uncle just wants to make up with my father and so is ignoring his brother's character. I know my father, there's no way on Heaven or Earth that he'd willingly resolve his differences with Richard, not unless there was something pretty big in it for him."

"Then we stop him," I said dread filling me up even as I vowed to prevent this, Robert Baxter in charge of the whole country would be nothing short of Hell, he was getting away with what he did to Locksdale purely because of his political and social influences but if (God forbid) he ever got into real power then it would be the beginning of very hard times for the whole county. "We warn your uncle, we stop Baxter from getting to his next meeting, take so much from him that he can't fund a political campaign; we do whatever it takes to stop him getting his revenge or whatever this is." I vowed and every outlaw in the room nodded in whole hearted agreement, even Will looked visibly less worried and more determined than he had before.

George met my gaze, his expression intense with purpose and making him look like the high class, powerful man that he was, that his time spent with us the working class grafters that had ruffed up his persona a little only added to the strength already there. He was glorious, a Baxter turned good and taught (by experience) to appreciate all he had been given and yet again I was glad that he was on our side and by mine.

"It will take some more observation and quite a bit of planning," George said his gaze leaving mine as he addressed the others in a similar manner to the one I had just been using, from where he sat beside me "according to the staff at the Mansion he's back tonight so I'll make more of an effort to see where my father goes and to keep tabs on what he's up to while I'm at the Mansion and maybe stay there for a few more hours a week. Just to confirm our suspicions, we don't want to be wrong about this."

I didn't like the sound of that, I selfishly thought. My time alone with George was rare as it stood now anyway and the thought of losing even more time with him didn't exactly thrill me. George looked at me almost apologetically, as though reading my mind; I shrugged in response and in acceptance. I understood George's desire to do more, he had the opportunity to find out some real information about Baxter's plans and it was something we couldn't pass up on, I wasn't selfish enough to jeopardise the economic state of the country just so that I could spend more time with my boyfriend. I had tomorrow to spend some quality time with him anyway, probably the last day we would have alone for a while but time nonetheless. The gravity of the situation we had found ourselves in, trying to get between Baxter and ultimate power was sinking in fast and the responsibility of keeping him from reaching his goal was already lying heavy on my shoulders, but this was hardly the sort of thing that we could just walk away from. I'd give it my all to stop Baxter from usurping his more peaceful and less extortionate brother and getting into power but the pressure was more than we had ever had to deal with, and I could see sombre expressions and frightened glances up and down the meeting table as my friends digested this situation.

"I can see about installing a camera at the end of the street," Mark suggested looking paler and even more exhausted than I had ever seen him "just in case you miss something, George. I've been wanting to do it for ages and now seems to be the best time to do it."

I nodded, agreeing with Mark's words and contemplating keeping an outlaw watching the surveillance camera's we had whenever possible "Could you have that done tonight?" I asked and Mark looked to his corner of the room where all his components and half finished inventions sat, I was sure he had another camera stashed in there somewhere.

"I should be able to." Mark told me, spinning back round to face me.

"Good," I said looking at all the worried faces of my friends and deciding that a bit of optimism was needed, it was too bad that I really didn't feel like giving it though.

"This is really serious, isn't it?" John asked though from the grave look he wore, something that didn't suit my jolly friend, I could tell that he already knew the answer "It's make or break time, if Baxter gets what he wants then everything we've done will have been for nothing, we cant help the whole of the country suffer this kind of stuff. We've got to stop him or else everyone is done for." I nodded solemnly when John finished speaking, though I wished it wasn't so, we were in a very serious situation now with very few clear roads to take, the most we could do for now was observe and see how far Baxter had gotten in his quest and obstruct him when we could. It wasn't the best plan ever but it was all we had.

"This could have really bad consequences for Locksdale, you know, if he doesn't get in" Will said and I felt myself frown as I thought about that "he's going to take it out on the whole town if we stop him."

"Don't be so bloody negative, Will," Jack chastised in a small but stern voice, though by the volume she spoke at and the frightened look on her face I knew that she was thinking along the same lines as Will and that she agreed with him.

"We can look after Locksdale," I told my oldest friend even though the thought of Baxter's revenge upon us, should he fail, scared the crap out of me since we were already stretched to breaking point "but we cant for the whole country, anyway, either way Locksdale is going to cop for it, whether or not Baxter gets into parliament is irrelevant here, he's always going to rule this town but at least if we can stop him getting any more power than he already has, then we ought to be able to handle everything else."

Under the table George took my hand in his and I drew even more strength from that, hardly realising that my shoulders had been slumped until I rightened them. Giving George a small appreciative smile, I turned back to the others, head held high and my expression stern as I said, "This is where it gets serious guys."

My five friends and I sat there, in perfect silence, contemplating that thought and sharing worried but no less determined looks for the longest of seconds that seemed to draw us all together, united once more in a seemingly impossible task, just like it had been in the very beginning. Then the door to the office burst open and in walked Joe and Jess.

"You lot don't do serious," Joe said a massive grin on his face as he waltzed into the room and dropped a plastic bag on the meeting table, which clunked as it hit the wood, before stepping back, folding his arms and beaming at us all "it's biological impossible."

"You sure you don't mean yourself?" Jess asked bitingly as she walked around her brother and stood to his left, smiling at John and then the rest of us.

"Nah, I'm as serious as they come, I am." Joe joked as I inspected the plastic bag on the table, it was full of money, both notes and coins and was obviously Joe and Jess's takings for this week. Someone, most likely Joe, had written 'swag' on the bag in block capitals in black pertinent marker and suddenly I was fighting a smile. "Gawd," Joe said taking in the sombre looks on all of our faces "who died?"

At that Jess smacked his arm and as Joe 'owed' in complaint she hissed "Joe. What kind of question is that, what if someone had died?"

"Then I'd have apologised," Joe told her with a shrug and she rolled her eyes, ignoring his sister's obvious annoyance Joe looked at us all and asked "so, did someone die?"

In cannon, every outlaw at the meeting table turned to look at me questioningly, not sure how best to broach the subject and as if telling me to go on then and get on with the interrogation. Feeling uncomfortable I shifted in my seat and looked at Joe and Jess, two people who I classed as close friends and two people that ordinarily, I would trust with my life. I really wished that I didn't have to talk about this with them or to accuse them of betraying us in any way, but I knew that I had to; the safety of the gang was at risk here.

"No," I said in answer to Joe's question "we're just worried and fast getting sick of those stories in the Enquirer about us, you've seen them haven't you, the ones about how we're stealing from the high ranking business officials when that isn't us? We would have done if given the chance, but that wasn't us that stole from them, not this time." I said gesturing to the newspaper, with it's torn up pages, in front of John.

Jess looked confused and frowned as her gaze went from the ripped newspaper to my face "So that wasn't you lot who stole from the Baxter mansion last night?" I met her gaze, not sure what to make of the question, did it mean that she was guilty or innocent that she had asked that? I wasn't sure.

"No, that was us." I told them, angry that I couldn't tell them any more because I wanted so much to tell them about the meeting between the future PM and Baxter and our suspicions about it, but I couldn't for fear that they would pass on what we knew to the imposters.

"Nice one," Joe said in approval as he pulled the swivel chair away from Mark's separate desk, as he always did, and sat down "From the papers it sounded like a good job, too bad you almost got caught though. They said that you interrupted the burglary and chased them off, George, quick thinking there pal."

"Thanks," George replied though the smile he wore was tainted with regret for our suspicions.

I don't think that Joe noticed anything but Jess was quicker, years of putting up with her brother and having to be one step ahead of him making her an expert in male body language and she sensed George's worry and regret, leaking out from behind the Baxter mask, and the tense atmosphere in the room.

"These stories have you all really bothered, don't they?" Jess asked, her tone and expression unreadable though I could hear a hint of concern there in her voice, once again I didn't know what to make of that question.

"Yes," I answered looking at the others sat around me as I struggled with how best to ask them what I needed to ask them, normally I couldn't shut everyone up and now when I'm stuck for something to say they all decide to let me deal with this alone. Why were none of them answering any questions? I didn't want to get this wrong and say something that I shouldn't, ordinarily I'd just come out with it or better yet, demand to know the truth, but I couldn't do that now though, I didn't want to offend Joe and Jess and lose them as friends. If I accused them of betraying us then they would think that we didn't trust them and they might not want anything more to do with us, and frankly their friendship meant too much for me to risk that.

Jess and Joe shared a look, a quick one that I wasn't meant to see and in noticing that I knew that they both knew something and that something was being hidden from us. "Sorry to hear that, Robin, I know that it was bad for you guys the last time this sort of thing happened." Joe said, sounding genuinely apologetic, his absence of a cocky joke or comment alerting me to the fact that something was off. I didn't want this to mean that they really were betraying us but my gut feeling was telling me that they knew more than they were letting on.

"We're going to deal with it," I said the strong tone very audible in my voice "but before we go on the drop offs, are you sure that you haven't heard anything or that you don't know anyone who knows something about the imposters?"

My friends shifted, recognising the direction that I was taking and bracing themselves. Joe and Jess shared another look before Joe said "No, love, no one around town knows anything about them, we've asked." His voice fluctuated, changing pitch before the last statement, telling me that half was a lie; I just couldn't tell which half.

As if seeing my disbelief on my face and sensing that this was becoming an interrogation Jess added "we did ask, Robin." In an honest and urgent tone, as though hoping that we would understand and believe them, my heart rate picked up then as I realised that that was important and decided I didn't like the direction this was headed in. She had answered my question for me then, in that one statement, but oddly enough didn't look to be taking offense at the accusation. That sparked my interest.

"You asked around town if anyone knew anyone copying our style and mimicking it so as to get us into trouble again?" I asked and Joe's eyes went wide as the tension in the room rose and Jess looked at me, guilt clear as day in her warm brown eyes.

"Not to get you into trouble." Jess said and Joe quickly elbowed her from where he sat next to her.

"And you say that I don't think before I speak!" he hissed urgently and Jess turned to glare at him.

"I am thinking." She said and feeling that the truth was almost out, but frightened about what I might hear even as I wanted so desperately to know the truth, I asked,

"Then what Jess, why is someone copying us if not to turn the town against us like last time?" my calm façade was fast slipping and the outlaws sat around me were eyeing me strangely as the panic and worry underneath my surface became increasingly more evident. I was reaching my wits end here, with each passing second it looked like Jess and Joe had been betraying us and I felt my hurt and anger build right alongside the passing time. They wouldn't do this to us, I told myself, there is an explanation for this no matter how bad it looks. It was getting harder and harder to believe that though and the others were starting to look just as wound up as I was, Joe and Jess seemed to sense that.

"You can't Jess, we're sworn to secrecy, on both sides." Joe said, adding emphasis on the last bit for us to hear. It placated no one though.

"So you are betraying us then." Will accused with no room for question in his tone, his chair scraping loudly on the floor as he jumped to his feet and turned to face Joe and Jess, hurt and anger evident on his face.

Next to Will Jack stood as well, her own pain and irritation clear on her face as she readied herself to either hold Will back or back him up depending on what the situation called for. Across from them John looked lost and wounded, he only looked at the scene unfolding before us seeing betrayal just as Will had but not sure what to do, his conflicting feelings stopping him from taking action. Mark looked twice as ill has he had before, lips parted as he regarded our friends though his eyes held an allegation. George was watching me, a deep and secret expression on his face as he took in the emotions that played across mine as I felt the falling sensation of being let down hit me, his own hurt was once again clear in his eyes as he silently urged me to do something.

"You're accusing us of telling the 'imposters' all you're secrets?" Joe demanded as he got to his feet as abruptly as Will had, anger that we could say that to them obvious in his expression. Unlike Jack, Jess didn't hesitate in grabbing hold of Joe's arm to pull him back as he took a step towards Will. "Are you serious, don't you trust us at all?"

"Joe," Jess hissed "stop this; it's time that we told them, remember what the Rebels said?"

"Told us what?" Jack asked though her voice was stern it was considerably less hostile than Will's had been. Will seemed to be struggling with his anger right now, it seemed that despite what he had said, Will had never really thought that Joe and Jess would so this to us and so it had hit him very hard right now. I knew how he felt.

Sat in my chair at the head of the meeting table I was furious, my hands balled up into fists and pressing against my knees, my breaths were shallow as I tried to get a handle on my emotions and the hurt welling up inside. I was mad at them all, at Joe and Jess for keeping this from us, whatever it was they had been hiding when they were supposed to be our friends. I was angry at the other outlaws as well, Will especially for snapping like that and shouting at Jess and Joe, couldn't he have just restrained himself until they had told us everything? Everyone was exploding in hurt rage and here I was, the most volatile and heart ruled person in the room and I was having to keep it together so that I could rein them all in. Being in charge was crap.

"Stop it," I said, having enough of their bickering and slowly rising from my chair, not almost throwing it over like Will and Joe had, but still commanding the attention of the room "I'm not going to sit here and listen to you all shout at each other, we're friends so we're gunna sort this out." I turned to face Will, Jack, Joe and Jess "I want you to sit down." Oddly enough everyone did as asked, with only a few grudging or else worried glances in my direction before they complied. I turned to face Jess and Joe "tell me everything, I don't want to think that you've betrayed us, so explain what you meant when you said that you need to tell us something."

"We wanted to tell you, Robin," Jess said looking at me and then the floor as she said "but we didn't have a choice, we weren't allowed to say anything to you."

The falling feeling worsened then and just as slowly as I had risen, I sat back down again. It was true then, Jess had just confirmed as much, they had been betraying us all this time even when we trusted them as whole heartedly as we did, and Joe had the gall to have a go at us for even suggesting that he had. I felt sick, but blinked once and focused in on George's face for comfort before saying,

"You betrayed us?"

"No, Robin," Jess said softly but earnestly, as though she honestly didn't believe that she had done anything wrong.

"We never betrayed you," Joe added his voice just as soft as his sisters and no where near as harsh as it had been "we never would."

"You told the imposters our secrets, you're the reason that they can copy us so perfectly and make it seem like we were the ones doing the robberies. It might not seem like a big deal now while they're doing the sort of things that we normally do, but how do you know that they aren't going to frame us for bigger things soon, like murder? The town won't accept money from us if they think that we're murderers, just like they didn't last time. I'm sorry, but selling our secrets like that sure sounds like betrayal to me." I told them, my emotions fluctuating between numb and sick, I should have been angry then but strangely I wasn't, just deflated. George grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently, I appreciated that.

"I know that it looks bad, Robin," Jess said and someone, most likely Will, let out a humourless laugh "but we didn't betray you and they aren't imposters."

"Then what are they then?" Mark asked from the other end of the meeting table, his hurt mingling with his confusion as he spoke "what are they if they're not imposters? They've got our style down to a tee and they're hitting the headlines while using it."

"That was accidental," Jess said her voice becoming less apologetic and more meaningful "we never thought they'd copy it so exactly, but they were struggling."

"Who?" I asked them "who did you tell all this stuff to?" please don't say Baxter, I thought, clinging onto the hope that even if they had betrayed us that they hadn't done so to our worst enemy. Stealing from him would be so much harder if he knew our workings and if they had told him more than just how we went about stealing from the rich then we could all be in grave danger.

Joe and Jess shared a look, as though deciding what they should tell us and then I remembered that Joe had said, that they were sworn to secrecy and suddenly I was mad again. So they could tell some imposters all our secrets but they couldn't tell us who they sold them to out of some twisted sense of loyalty?

"The Rebellion," Joe answered, shocking us all completely, we had not expected that response.

"Who?" George asked, speaking without hurt or accusation in his voice, just interest and confusion.

"The Rebellion," Jess repeated before clarifying "they're an organisation set up in Locksdale decades ago to appose the Baxter regime." Why did that sound familiar? I wondered as I frowned deeply and tried to recall where I had heard something about that before. Forgetting my former hurt and rage in wake of what Jess had just said, they hadn't sold our secrets to Baxter after all.

"Where have I heard that before?" I asked not aware that I had spoken aloud until Mark replied.

"The Kennedy's," Mark answered after a moment and beside me George looked up in understanding, his lips parted and eyes wide. He looked at Mark in question and our smart friend nodded "Stephanie said that her father was a rebel, don't you remember? It was the first time we went to see them and she was just starting to believe what we said."

I did remember, though I had thought nothing of it at the time it made sense now, did that mean that Kennedy had been part of this Rebellion and was that the real reason that Baxter had him killed?

"Was Kennedy a part of the Rebellion?" I asked Joe and Jess and they both nodded sadly, apparently their secrecy didn't apply when the man concerned was dead so Jess added,

"Yes, he was a new member this year according to the others, he'd finally had enough of Baxter's sick treatment and he wanted him gone. Baxter found out that he was betraying him though and had him killed, the only bright side is that Baxter never knew who Kennedy was betraying him to. The Rebellion's existence is still a secret." She looked genuinely upset and I nodded in sympathy, Kennedy's death had hit us all hard too and I wondered about this Rebellion, all thoughts of betrayal forgotten.

"Hey," I said as a thought dawned on me "do you think that's what Kennedy meant in his letter?" I asked and the others looked at me in confusion, clearly not remembering. Too intrigued not to find out for sure I sprang up from my chair and headed for our filling cabinets and hunted through them until I found Kennedy's final letter, a plea for us to protect his daughters from Baxter's wrath.

"There," I said as I set it down on the table "the 'R'."

Mark lent into the middle of the meeting table and adjusting his glasses he read aloud the last sentence "I offer you this advice, you are not alone, there R others. Yours faithfully, Andrew Kennedy."

"The 'are' is written as a letter isn't it?" I asked intending to jog everyones memory with that statement, it worked and suddenly everyone was wide eyed in understanding and remembrance "is that a reference to the Rebellion then?" I asked Joe and Jess from where I stood with my hands pressed against the meeting table to support me as I lent over towards the letter.

"We think that it is," Jess said with a nod "we think that he wanted you to get in touch with the Rebellion and for us all to work together."

"We half expected you to figure out what it meant right then," Joe said and I suddenly remembered that they had been there too when I first showed them the letter; listening to our conversation and analysis of the letter via a web cam and mic link, unable to say anything "you were on the right lines and it was so hard not to just tell you what we thought, but we had to run it by the Rebellion first, to see if they were ready to meet you or not."

I frowned slightly, considering the risk to my gang by sending them into unknown territory but also the potential positives of joining forces with another rebel group, they could help us with this latest problem and surely that was a good thing. "Are they ready to meet us?" I asked and Joe nodded.

"They are now, which is why we can tell you all this." he said.

"So what exactly is this Rebellion?" Jack asked not just addressing Joe and Jess but us all, clearly thinking that just because she was new to town she was the only one who had ever heard of these Rebels. This wasn't the case and I didn't have the foggiest idea who they were, and as far as I was aware no one else did. I shrugged at her and we all turned to face the twins.

"Yeah, who are they as well?" John asked just as confused and interested as the rest of us.

"We can't tell you who they are, not their names or anything like that, just like we never told them your real identities," Jess explained and I sat down, sensing a story coming on "but we can tell you what they are. The Rebellion is an anti-Baxter organisation, set up years ago to defy Baxter whenever possible and put an end to his rein."

"They were good at what they did, everyone in town knew about them about twenty years ago, but in the last decade they hit some problems, mutinies and betrayals, that sort of thing, and not to mention that the people they opposed seriously upped their game, meaning that it was harder to stop all the injustices. In the end they had to drop their cause because they couldn't do it any more. That is until you guys came into the picture and they decided to reform, hoping that with your help they could stop Baxter." Joe carried on, speaking animatedly and loving the role of story teller.

"Before they came back they never robbed money, they just protested and apposed Baxter where they could. They got the idea of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor from you but they weren't sure how to go about it, never having done anything like that before." Jess continued tossing her jet black plats from her shoulder.

"We'd heard some stuff about them around town but nothing much, it was just after we got in with you guys that we first met them and they convinced us to join up. They knew that we knew you but we wouldn't tell them anything, not your names, not where you were based, nothing. But then they asked for our help in showing them how to steal money efficiently and we agreed, teaching them the same tricks we'd taught you and we'd seen you use. It's not like with pick pocketing, big scale theft, all the stuff we know would have been useless if we hadn't told them your techniques." Joe admitted looking guilty but still not thinking that he had done anything wrong and right now I didn't think that he had either, all they had done was tell these rebels how to help people and there was nothing wrong with that.

"We're sorry that we told them your style," Jess said apologetically "we never thought that you'd get the blame for what they did."

"It's okay, Jess," I said looking around my fellow outlaws to see that they were all nodding in agreement with my words, even Will. I think that we were all just relieved that it wasn't anything more serious and that they betrayal really wasn't one at all "have they handed out the money they took?" I asked, wanting an answer to a question I had been contemplating ever since this started.

"Not yet," Jess told us with a slight grimace as though she didn't agree with this "they want build up a stash large enough to help everyone at once. We told them not to do it that way, that if something goes wrong then they're screwed but they won't listen."

"How many are they?" Will asked, his voice infinitely gentler and completely absent of accusation now, for which I was glad.

"A few dozen," Joe answered looking Will in the eyes and shrugging in an off hand male display that meant that there was no hard feelings between them, in response to which Will simply nodded.

"Their numbers change quite a bit and they are made up mostly of the people that were in the Rebellion originally, which only a few additions." Jess told us and as I digested this information, that there was a group of people dedicated to the same cause as us and who might be able to help us, I looked at my fellow outlaws, all of who looked considerably lighter now, like they were less troubled and interested in what was happening. John broke off into a conversation with Mark, from the excited looks on their faces I guessed that they were discussing what had just been said.

"And they want to meet with us, right?" I asked Joe and Jess and instantly the office fell silent and everyone looked at me again, this wasn't my attention but I wasn't complaining.

"If you want to," Jess confirmed "they want you're help."

"Good," I said sitting back in my chair "because we want theirs as well, we've found out some stuff and it doesn't look too good, we're going to need all the help we can get."

Jess and Joe looked at me in question and I nodded to George, who smiled at me slightly (in that secretive way that was almost as if he was checking me out) before explaining to the twins what we had been talking about before they got here. I wanted George to tell the story because he knew the details and could tell it best, but also because it was good to hear his voice right now. We had reached what I was sure was a turning point, maybe the start of something important and it comforted me just to ignore the words coming out of George's mouth and just listen to his clear, confident voice as he spoke.

"Chuffing hell," Joe breathed as George's words sunk in and he looked positively green "they always said that he wanted to move onto bigger things, but I never thought…"

"What are you going to do to stop him?" Jess asked us looking equally as sick and frightened as her brother, the seriousness of this situation was not lost on her, they both knew well enough what this meant.

"Whatever it takes," I answered and the others made noises of agreement around me and Jess nodded.

"We'll help you," Joe told and Jess nodded swiftly at his words "just let us know when you need us and we'll be there to help, we wont let this shit go nation wide, we wont let Baxter have the satisfaction."

"Will you tell the Rebellion?" Jess asked us "they could be useful."

I looked to the others, I wanted to tell the rebels what we knew, the more people we had working on this the better chance we would have of stopping Baxter, but I wanted to know that they felt the same way.

"I don't have a problem with that." Jack said a small smile of hope blossoming on her face as she undoubtedly thought of the help they could give us, maybe with them our task wouldn't be so impossible.

"It's like Jess says, they could help us." John agreed and all around the meeting table outlaws were nodding in accord.

"Look's like it's settled then," George said leaning forwards to rest his elbows on the table "we're going to meet the Rebellion."

"Can you sort out a meeting?" I asked Joe and Jess "the sooner we get together the sooner we can take action."

"Ah there's no need to sort anything out," Joe said with a dismissive hand wave "they want to meet you, so there won't be a problem."

Jess rolled her eyes at her brothers lax manner towards this, clearly thinking that he wasn't realising how important this was "How about we just take you to meet them tomorrow, we can meet here and we'll take you to them, we'll run it by them first of course but I don't think they'll mind."

"Sounds good," I said smiling at Jess and Joe, relief and maybe just a little bit of hope flowing through me in the wake of what we had found out today. Jess and Joe weren't selling our secrets on, they were just trying to help people and they were sorry for any stress caused to us. There was another anti-Baxter society in town and they wanted our help to remove the dictator and we were going to meet them tomorrow, hopefully meaning that they would assist us in keeping Baxter out of the Downing Street. The stress of what responsibility rested on our shoulders was lessened somewhat with just the idea of someone else to share the weight with, our task was still going to be difficult, there was no denying that, but maybe now with a bit of assistance we wouldn't be trying to do the impossible. Just that thought alone forced some of the stress from my shoulders and had me sitting more comfortably, now if only someone would wave a magic wand and make Adam forget that he was blackmailing me and everything would have looked that much brighter.

**Author note: there it was, my chapter with some resolutions and revelations, what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Also, I'd like to wish you a very happy (five days belated) St GEORGE'S Day, in a bout of national pride and George love. The theme of St George is also pretty relevant for a few chapters on, so yeah, take from that what you will ;)**


	15. Dearest enemy

**Author note: sorry this is late, but what can I say, my life's been nothing but revision and exams of late so this has unfortunately had to take a backseat, however I'm back now and while I've got a lot of stuff to be doing still I'm going to try and stay up to date with this. A massive thank you to those who review, you inspire me. :)**

**Chapter fifteen: Dearest enemy**

**Sixty-six Deild Vale**

A slight breeze was toying with the stray strands of hair that usually lay against my mask, as I stood apprehensively across the road from sixty-six Deild Vale. The night was colder than it ought to have been for early September and I shivered underneath my flimsy hooded jacket, though that might have just been my unease making itself known, as if I could forget it. My upper lip curling in disgust at the mere thought of what I was going to have to endure for the next hour, I stared up at the unfamiliar house Adam had ordered me to come to when he text me a few hours ago with the details of my 'visit'. Well, when I say details I mean a time and a place, Adam had yet to share with me what this agonizing hour was going to involve, though I wasn't sure I wanted to know exactly, not if I was going to actually bring myself to go inside. I hadn't allowed myself to think about it ever since he blackmailed me into coming here, but I was prepared for the worst.

Sixty-six Deild Vale was not the house that Adam had grown up in and the one I had spent time at when we were together, no, this house was quite a bit different from the dingy, two bedroom terrace house he had lived in then. This house had at least three bedrooms for a start, also it was detached and looked fairly new, like someone had bought the plot of land here and then built this single house on it for themselves, but managed to still include it in the pre-existing street, hence the address. It didn't look like it belonged here though, even in the dark I could tell that the house was built out of different bricks to the ones around it; the front garden was larger than the others around and it looked as though it cost a fair deal more than the rest of the houses too. The alienation of the house, its thick drawn curtains behind which there was not even the faintest glow of light, not even behind what I had been informed was Adam's bedroom window, and its sheer, unnecessary size made it somewhat imposing.

I wasn't looking forward to going inside, though again that might have just been because of what, or rather who, was waiting for me in there. I had been so happy not half an hour ago, I marvelled internally, thinking about how our suspicions about Jess and Joe had happily been proved false and we'd learnt that the imposters we had been so worried about might actually be able to help us with our latest crisis. How quickly Adam had killed off any joy I might have been feeling though. I couldn't go with my friends on the drop off tonight because of this, I was missing out on the relieved and jovial atmosphere that had built up around them since Jess and Joe explained everything to us and instead I was here about to spend sixty minutes of pure torture with my ex-boyfriend, all because I was being blackmailed. It wasn't as though I wasn't doing this for a good reason, this wasn't some trivial thing, I was putting up with Adam's crap solely because it kept Baxter from finding out the truth about George, a dangerous bit of information which was unfortunately in the hands of my loathsome ex.

I still hated this though, just because there was nothing I wouldn't do to keep George safe didn't mean that I was at all resigned to my fate, nor was I going to let Adam push me around, gone were the days when I would tolerate that. I'd much sooner be with the others, doing my readily accepted duty of helping the poor of Locksdale, I hated coming here while my friends were distributing all the money we'd gathered, I felt like I was shaking my responsibility when really I was just trying to look after another. I had no choice though and so, heaving a heavy sigh, I stepped out into the deserted street and crossed the road to number sixty-six, I noticed the curtain of the right upstairs window twitch, as though falling back into place and reasoned that Adam must have been watching me. I reached the other side of the street, my footsteps silent on the tarmac in my black pumps and hastily I vaulted over the low brick wall that separated Adam's garden from the pavement, even though the gate was obviously new I didn't want to chance that I'd make a noise by opening it. Walking across the freshly planted grass out of pure, unashamed spite, I considered, for a brief moment, knocking on the door despite Adam's instructions not to. I didn't though, I didn't want anyone knowing that I was here not even Adam's mum, who I'd gotten along with just fine when Adam and I were together and who was his only parent. Unfortunately (as though having Adam as a son wasn't unfortunate enough) she was also a compulsive gossip, and I didn't need the whole of the Southside (which despite his new home Adam still lived in) knowing that I, or rather a hooded stranger depending on what I would have worn when she answered, had been visiting her son. Besides I would only have been doing it for the same reason I was trampling the grass. To spite him.

I glanced up once more at Adam's window, feeling slightly nauseous and more than just a little bit mad at how I was being forced to go in there, I looked for the wooden bench Adam had said would be here. I spotted it under the ground floor window at the left hand side of the house (on my right hand side) and so taking a leisurely walk over to it, I dragged it across the grass and up against the side of the brick front porch. Glancing over my shoulder once more to check that no one was looking I paused in the shadows cast by the new building, spotting no nosy neighbours peeking out from between their blinds I stood on the bench. Finding I was too short to reach the pouch roof from there I placed one foot on the arm of the bench and the other on the bench back. This did the trick and grabbing onto the tiled roof I pulled myself up quietly, the only sound I made being a slight grunt as the top of the triangular porch roof jabbed my stomach as I pulled myself onto it. Blowing more of the hair that had escaped from my pony tail out of my face, I brought myself up into a crouch and pulled my mask off in a sudden flash of hot irritation before stuffing it in my pocket. Shuffling forward as much as I dared I grabbed hold of the drain pipe for support and reached out for the right hand side bedroom window. However just as my fingertips were centimetres from the glass the curtains were thrown open, I snatched my hand away as the shadowy figure I assumed was Adam appeared behind the window and slowly slid it open. He didn't say a word and, sitting back against the porch roof, having pushed myself back against it instinctively, I watched as he turned and walked back into the room.

I paused for a second, unwilling to enter, a million emotions rushing through me as I sat there, anger, revulsion, confusion and apprehension amongst them. I wondered why Adam hadn't said anything to me, it wasn't like him not to taunt me when he could and I was willing to bet I had looked a right picture reaching for the window with my hair half out of its bobble and my face red and angry, prime jibe material if I did say so myself. It wasn't even like he was bothered about being heard or not, I was the one who had the most to lose by being found here, namely George, so his silence confused me. Deciding that he was waiting for me to get inside I remained where I was for another second, just to piss him off (I didn't want to be here), before grudgingly climbing through the window. Landing on the soft, un-trodden carpet of Adam's room I glanced around, it was definitely bigger than his old one, more spacious and less cramped. There was a large double bed at one end of the room which was obviously replacing his old single one, a wardrobe at the other end along with a laptop perched atop a wooden (not pressboard like mine) writing desk. There were other things in here as well, random odds and ends that fitted into any normal bedroom, like a DVD rack, a TV and nightstands, however most of these things I had never seen before. I couldn't tell what colour the walls or carpet were because of the dark, but I was guessing they were the traditional white and beige that most new houses had when you first bought them, since neither Adam nor his mum were any good at decorating.

Looks like the Devil pays well, I thought with revulsion as I stared into the room, because that was obviously how he was able to afford all this, his mum was a barmaid at the Swallows (which come to think of it would be where she was now, so maybe not knocking on the door had more to do with the neighbours than anything else) and there was no way she could afford a house like this on her income. The boy who had sold his soul to Baxter however, would probably be in favour with said devil well enough to have this house bought for himself and his mother. But why? I thought suspiciously, what had Adam done to deserve this in Baxter's eyes? Or more importantly, what was he going to do to deserve it? My breathing picked up then and I tensed, anger building I turned to find Adam, thinking all the while that if this was a trap he would be very, very sorry. Wasn't it bad enough that I had to obey the scumbag's every wish; did he really have to line his own pocket by turning me in too? Of course he could Robin; I thought in answer to my own internal question, he's prepared to do it to George. As I narrowed my eyes at him Adam crossed the room and closed the window I had just climbed through and drew the thick curtains, causing me to stiffen even more as they eclipsed any light that might have been seeping into the room from the street, and then even with my advanced eyesight I found myself struggling to see.

"You're late," he said in a clipped tone that despite being said in his own voice sounded so un-Adamish it was unreal.

"Am I?" I asked sarcastically as I sensed him walk past me into the room again "sorry, I had something more important to be doing." I added in a biting tone, that was only a half truth really, since while I hadn't been in any hurry to get here and the goings on at Sherwood had been infinitely more important than spending an evening with Adam (though not more so than George's life). The main reason I was a bit late here was because I didn't have my phone on me since whilst on a job it was too much of a liability, nor did I have a watch because they kept getting broken when things got a little bit violent. Since I had had no way of telling how I was for time since I had left Sherwood, it wasn't really any surprise that I was late getting here.

Adam snorted "Not more important than what I've got to say," he said, his voice coming from across the room, and at that it was my turn to snort, even if I was still edgy about the situation.

"I doubt that," I retorted sharply fingers ready to snatch a arrow from my quiver and pull my bow from my back when Adam flicked his desk light on, not opting for the large main light. All set to defend myself should this be an ambush I was ready to spring when my eyes adjusted to the sudden light. Adam was still alone though and stood across the room with his back to me, both his hands were gripping the light brown wooden desk so it liked like he was unarmed, that aside if I hadn't known Adam better I would have said he looked troubled, or at least tired. His shoulders were slumped as he held on tightly to the desk and though I couldn't see his face the mood his stance gave off was not his usual smug one. This really wasn't like him, I thought not quite sure to make of him but not about to take it as a sign of weakness, it could just be a ploy to make me feel sorry for him, since he never acted like this.

Seeming to remember he had an audience Adam turned around and I felt my eyes widen in shock, Adam's cheek was a shocking deep purple with bruising too fresh to be a result of my outburst Sunday night, his nose wasn't even swollen any more from where I'd punched him so obviously this new bruise wasn't my fault. No someone else had done this, and really it could have been any number of people since Adam wasn't exactly a lovable sort of person. Oddly I was suddenly reminded of Marin in my 'dream' or whatever that was, where he had been beaten up by Guy for helping me get away, though I wasn't sure why I should think of that.

Deciding that I didn't care if someone had punched or slapped or otherwise harmed Adam, though a part of me told me that I ought to care, I tried to ignore his horrible bruising, a task that was made easier when I thought about the awful handprints he had left around my neck the other week. That thought, however, did not do wonders for my anger.

"You managed to get away from your following them?" Adam asked coldly and scowled at him for his comment and unusual frosty attitude (thought I wasn't sure which I preferred, him being like this or him being his usual arrogant self).

"They're my friends, not my following," I said in an unamused tone as folded my arms across my chest, absentmindedly remembering how George used to call my 'friends' at Locksdale Upper my following, he had been right to call them that since they hadn't cared about me or my situation, they had only wanted to experience rebellion and I supposed that I had known that all along really. "And yes, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

Adam pulled a sarcastic face that didn't last as long as it usually would have done and crossed the room to sit on the edge of his bed, while he did that I frowned in frustration, thinking about what I had had to do to get away from Sherwood. In order to get out of going on the drop off (something that I didn't really want to get out of) I had had to feign illness, I had had to act sick for the time leading up to our leaving until Mark had asked me if I was alright. At which point I'd given my usual speech about being fine and not being unwell and from there the others had insisted that I stay in if I really wasn't well, since I didn't look good and they didn't want a repeat of the other month when I'd been bedridden for a day for refusing to admit that I was ill. I'd made a bit of a fuss over it but I think I gave in too easily because I caught George giving me funny looks as they left, even though he had hugged me before hand and told me to get well soon. I don't think he bought my act, he knows me too well by now and while the others might think that I've found a bit of sense since a few months, back George knew better. However he didn't say anything, he just made it plain that he knew something was wrong, but just not what I was saying was and left me to it, trusting that whatever I had to do was important and that I would tell him later. I really didn't deserve him, I thought guiltily as I shifted subtly on my feet, he trusted me so much and here I was standing in my ex's bedroom in the middle of the night, it didn't really matter that I was under duress, I was still here.

Adam sighed as he got comfy on his bed before looking back up at me and smirking before tapping the spot on the bed next to him in an obvious invitation, I pulled a repulsed face and he laughed. That was more like Adam, I thought.

"So you're going to stand up for the next hour?" he asked me, brown eyes questioning but with a slight harshness and a sense of seriousness behind them, I shrugged.

"Maybe," I said thinking how I hated lying to my friends, especially over something like this, however, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would lie to them again if it would keep them or George safe.

Adam snorted and looked away, an unusual silence fell between us then, it wasn't awkward because there was far too much animosity and tension in the air between us for that, an equal measure of which was coming from Adam also, since he looked bothered by something. The silence was unusual because either Adam or I always had some biting comment or insult to throw at the other whenever we usually talked; it was odd that we didn't.

I watched in confusion as Adam just sat there, all evidence that he had been laughing just a moment ago gone. Adam stayed as he was, sat on the end of his double bed, resting his head in his hands and a deep pensive expression on his face (which needless to say was very out of character for him) as though he was trying to decide on something and was torn between two options, he sat like that for a good five minutes, trying my patience immensely. Why was I even here? I asked myself angrily, why did he have to torture me first why couldn't he just tell me to do whatever task he'd called me to do and I'd either do as commanded or tell him to shove it and go home, I had drawn a line that I wouldn't cross no matter what, I'd keep George safe from his father myself if I had to, I wouldn't do anything Adam asked me to. Still he sat there though, glaring at the floor while I did the same to him, just thinking.

Deciding that Adam wasn't going to start talking again any time soon, his own internal debate seemed too fierce to give out just yet, I found my own mind drifting. Oddly enough though it didn't stop at how Jess and Joe had been telling the imposters how to be successful thieves by copying us, or how said imposters might actually be able to help us, instead it drifted on to something, or rather someone, else I had been considering a lot lately. Grace. While I had yet to meet to woman properly (in this time) aside from the time we met at George's dad's ball in the summer, I couldn't shake the really bad feeling I had about her. Something wasn't right about her, the way she glared at me whilst at college, her sudden need to be educated in Locksdale even though she was Nottingham born and bred, that early morning meeting she was having on the Southside this morning, not to mention the fact that in the 'past' she was the form the true Gisborne took in my dreams, or whatever they were. She was the real problem in Nottingham when I was back there, the puppet master so to speak, pulling the strings here and there to give herself power, and though with each passing day I got more and more confused about what on Earth that vision, dream, experience, whatever, had been when I was back in Nottingham in the time of my ancestor, I was sure there was more to her than everyone thought. She was a key part in this story, I just knew it, and from that I had earlier resolved to keep an eye on her, and maybe voice my concerns as to which character she was playing.

I had decided, in-between leaving college and George returning home later that day, that Grace couldn't be left to do as she pleased, someone, namely me, had to keep an eye on her and figure out just what she was up to. Because she was up to something, of that I was sure, I wasn't just being some jealous girlfriend trying to find faults with the woman who wanted my boyfriend and was currently living in his old house, I honestly thought there was something sinister about her. And that line of thought inevitably led me back to Adam, who in the 'past' had been one of the people working with Grace to bring about my downfall and the downfall of the King, was that the case now? I wondered looking at the still thoughtful boy across the room from me, despite me not knowing exactly what my experience in Nottingham was a lot of things from there seemed to be working their way into my life here, could it be true that he was working with her? No, I thought suddenly and almost laughing at myself for thinking it, Adam was a working-class employee of Baxter, a stuck up rich kid like Grace would have no time for his ideas and probably no need for his help, they were from two very different social circles, it wasn't possible.

"As fun as it is being here Adam," I drawled sarcastically, anxious to get out of here and set my plans for watching Grace into motion, though it was unlikely I would have the time tonight "is there a particular reason why I'm here?" I asked and he looked up at me, obviously irritated that I'd interrupted his musings; I didn't care though and punctuated my words with a sharp look.

"I've not decided yet," he said sitting up straight before pushing himself to his feet and walking towards me, my lip curled as he came to a stop right before me, there was barely an inch between us both but I refused, on principal, to step back and stood firm with a defiant expression on my face. Adam caught sight of my look and smirked.

"Why?" he asked leaning in towards my face so that his warm breath fanned across my face and I cringed "you anxious to get started?"

I didn't even dignify that with a response, I caught the implied meaning and let out a "ugh" noise of disgust and cast my gaze away from him, not before I saw his smirk widen though.

"I think maybe you are, Robin love," He said as he pulled back away from me and I turned slowly to look at him again, scowling "you just like deluding yourself." With that he took a step back and his expression became serious again.

"In your dreams," I retorted quickly and Adam shook his head.

"It's reality, if I tell you that's what's going to happen." He said in a tone that started off calm but intensified as he spoke.

"Now who's deluding themselves?" I asked brusquely and Adam replied without a second thought.

"Still you," he answered almost as sharply as I had and my glare intensified.

"Alright then, since there's no point to me actually being here. Why don't you tell me why I'm deluding myself, oh great all-knowing one?" I said my voice dripping with heavy sarcasm and irritation.

Adam didn't miss a beat, and sounding as though he very much wanted to tell me how I was kidding myself shot back "You think that you can stop Mr. Baxter," he told me and I was as quick with my response as he had been.

"I can't, not on my own. But my friends and I, and whoever else wants to help us, can," I said and Adam rolled his eyes "I'm not saying it will be easy, but I know we can do it."

"It's impossible, the Baxters have owned this town for a century, and don't you think that other people have tried to stop them? All of them failed and so will you; you're living in a fairytale if you think otherwise." Adam retorted bluntly.

"You don't know anything about what were doing or what we know, we aren't going to fail, I wont let us." I sent back, not even the slightest bit ruffled by what he had said, it was going to take a lot more than a few words from the cheat to shake my faith in what we were doing, what did he know?

"I might not, but I know a lot about what you're up against. You. Are. Deluding yourself." He said, emphasising the last sentence and leaning towards me once more.

"Yeah well, we'll see whose right about that one then wont we." I snapped and Adam nodded solemnly, brown hair bobbing as he did so, though he was smirking at me as though he thought I was stupid. "If that's all you've got then you're wrong, I'm not living a delusion." I said thinking that would end the discussion and that he would have no response, but this was Adam so of course he did.

"Oh I'm far from done," Adam half said half laughed though there was no humour in his voice "how about this one? You think that you can help everyone, the poor, your family, your friends, George and any one else that asks you to help them, when you can't, you're not super woman." He concluded dryly.

"We can and we are doing, I haven't failed anyone yet and I'm not going to," I replied trying not to think of Andrew Kennedy "and we're going to give help to anyone who asks for it." I said wondering why Adam had ordered me here just so he could tell me how stupid I was, was this it or did he have some other torture lined up for after our argument? He'd said though that he had something to tell me, why did he have to force me here to tell me something?

Adam shook his head "you can't do everything." He said in an almost reproachful tone which, needless to say, I did not appreciate.

"I'm not trying to," I told him yet again thinking he didn't know anything about me or my life now, who was he to tell me this?

"Yeah," Adam scoffed "alright then."

"I'm not trying to do everything," I insisted "just everything that is asked of me and I KNOW that I can do it." Adam shot me a doubtful but still mocking look and I rolled my eyes "Next," I called not giving him a chance to say anything else.

"You think that you can keep me in line," he said brown eyes glistening wickedly as he turned to me, trying to look dangerous. To anyone else I supposed that he would have, that crooked smile in place on his dark face as he stood tall in the barely lit room, he should have looked frightening. He didn't scare me though, not any more and I met his gaze easily.

"I can," I said forcefully.

Adam laughed "well let me rephrase that, you think you can stop me telling Baxter lover boy's little secret." He reiterated and I froze, my stomach plummeting in dread and my eyes going wide, a smug smile formed on Adam's face which I would have happily wiped away thanks to the protective rage that had built up at his words.

"I can!" I exclaimed and this time I took a threatening step towards Adam, like I had before he didn't move back, he just stood there and smirked "you promised that if I did whatever you asked then you wouldn't show Baxter those pictures. That's what we agreed on! If you go back on your word Adam I swear I'll…."

"You'll what Robin?" Adam asked his smug face inches from my own "you're quick to threaten people but you never actually say what you're going to do, you're full of empty threats so forgive me if I'm not very frightened of you."

Feeling my face start to turn a furious red colour I balled my hands into fists and paused a second before retorting "If you tell Baxter the truth about George, after you promised me that you wouldn't, I will hunt you down, come at you in the middle of the night and make you regret the moment you were ever born." I hissed, venom and my fierce protectiveness coating every single syllable, too frightened for words at what he was implying.

Adam smirked "empty threat," he commented before reaching up with the intention of tucking a strand of escaped hair behind my ear, I jerked away from his touch, glaring at him all the while, he was wrong, that wasn't an empty threat, he didn't know what I would do for George "and keep your hair on, I wont be going back on our agreement, not yet anyway."

I gritted my teeth as he turned and walked away from me, hardly reassured by his claim that he wouldn't be telling Baxter George's secret, I didn't trust Adam, not even in the slightest. However, I couldn't chance it and so in an attempt to keep him in a none grassing frame of mind I held my tongue and only glowered at him. "Is that all?" I asked my fiery rage clear as day in my tone, I half expected him to laugh but he didn't, he just turned back to me with a serious expression on his face and said,

"No, you're kidding yourself in one more way," he paused, but only for long enough to lock his hard gaze with mine before adding "you think that all of this is going to end in a happily ever after with you and George, and that is the biggest lie that you tell yourself."

"What?" I asked somewhat surprised by what he had just said, feeling my anger start to lift in wake of my confusion, or rather, my anger simply went someplace else for a while until I needed to call on it again. I felt myself frown at him and twisted my expression into a defiant one, even though I could feel my stomach start to plummet at Adam's words.

"You and George," Adam clarified "you aren't going to get a happily ever after, or whatever you're looking for, it's not possible."

"I never said I was expecting a happy ending," I said a little defensively even though my heart and stomach were both still in a confusing free fall, why should it matter so much what he said, what did he know about George and me?

Adam scoffed "you don't have to say it, you might pride yourself on not being one of those stereotypical girls Robin, but its obvious that's what you want from this, when the end comes you want it all to end happily with you and George riding off into the sunset, and I can tell you right now that that isn't going to happen." Adam told me, his gaze going distant towards the end of his little speech, as though he was thinking about something else.

"It's going to end with Baxter being punished for his crimes and Locksdale liberated from his dictatorship," and with Richard Baxter safely getting into the Prime Minster slot, I added internally since I didn't want Adam to know what we knew "anything else is irrelevant."

Adam raised an eyebrow at that "That's not going to happen either, there's no court, or law enforcement agency in the country that would dare take on Baxter, he'll never be punished and thank God for that since I like not being in prison." Adam said and I rolled my eyes, it was true that getting Baxter sent down would get a number of his employees sent down as well, probably Adam included, not that I'd complain about that "I'm not stupid you know, any idiot can see that George is not irrelevant to you, its why you're here now and you cant lie to me and say that you don't care how this ends for the both of you."

"And so what if I do?" I asked defensively "what's wrong with me wanting this to end well for me and George?"

"It won't happen," Adam said dryly looking away from me and adopting that thoughtful expression again, looking like he was thinking about whatever he had been earlier.

"Alright," I said folding my arms and cocking my hips, not about to leave this alone "and you know that, how?" I challenged, hating that he had said that to me, that my cheating ex was telling me how my current relationship was going to end.

"Because I know," he said simply, frowning at the carpet as he took up his internal dilemma again.

"Because you know," I repeated in cold disbelief "well then, it must be true then, if YOU know. Never mind those of us who are actually in the relationship, if you say it wont last then surely it wont last, because you are the relationship expert after all."

"Shut up, Robin." Adam warned in a voice that was supposed to be dangerous but just sounded tired.

"No," I said defiantly "I'm not, if I'm going to stand here for the next forty-five minutes or however long I've got left stuck in here, while you tell me, for no good reason, that my relationship is doomed then I'm going to say whatever I bloody well want to!"

Turning to face me angrily, apparently giving up on staring holes in the floor, Adam snapped "you should take what I've said as I warning and chuck the pampered prince, you'd be doing you're self a favour if you did, Baxter's are all the same."

"Oh, and you'd know that because you've been out with one as well have you?" I asked scornfully and Adam's gaze narrowed.

"I've done my research," he said in a tone that was so angry and so sure that it had me actually stopping to consider what he was saying "if you were smart you'd get out now before history repeats itself, this is out of my hands now and its out of yours too, but you could still change one thing by getting wise and dumping him."

"And why would I do that?" I asked harshly "I love him."

Adam rolled his eyes "Loving him doesn't mean anything, he's still a Baxter, he's still got his fathers genes in him, history will only repeat its self if you don't get out now." He said seeming frustrated though there was no more indecision or contemplation in his eyes, he had made his choice.

"He's nothing like his father, George is his own person, we aren't clones of our parents." I protested sternly though Adam looked unconvinced and I continued "George is good and kind, he wants to help people, he wants to liberate the town and do good in the world, he's nothing like his father!"

"And you don't think that Baxter wasn't always a cold, money grabbing businessman, you don't think that maybe he was like that once too?" Adam asked, his brown eyes alight with intensity as he turned to stare at me.

"No, I don't." I said confidently, speaking the truth, Baxter could never have been good or even just ordinary, he was nothing but pure evil and Adam didn't know what he was talking about.

"You're narrow-minded then," Adam said simply and I blanched, that was something that no one had ever accused me of being before "Baxter was like George once and look at him now, anything can change over time so if you were smart you'd get out now, and keep as far away from Baxter Jr as you can."

"You weren't there, Adam, there's no way for you to know what Baxter used to be like." I said for some reason feeling frightened by the way that this conversation was going, but not about to back down now.

"Like I said, I've done my research," he told me before adding "and it's not pretty, if history…"

"…Repeats it's self I'll be sorry, I know," I snapped cutting across him "you keep saying that but you never say what you mean by it."

"Are you really so blind that you cant see the similarities?" Adam asked and instantly I felt offended, well, obviously I am Adam, that or I don't have the time to sit around and make up stories like you do all day, I thought huffily but didn't get a chance to say it aloud as Adam was already speaking "you're situation is almost exactly the same as hers was and look how she ended up."

"The same as whose?" I asked dryly tiring of Adam's half answered and feeling like an outsider in a group of friends who were talking about someone that I didn't know, why couldn't he just talk straight?

Adam paused, frowned and looked like he was thinking hard, weighing up his options and trying to decide what to say. That caught my attention; he looked like the answer to my question was something he didn't think that he should tell me. And then he decided, I knew that because a determined and somewhat hard look crossed Adam's face before he said,

"George's mum's, your life is like George's mum's," I blinked, shocked by the comparison and totally speechless, however Adam didn't seem to need a response and carried on "you've grown up on the Southside and so did she, as you probably know she died there too in an accident." Adam said and I remembered George telling me about his mum's car accident on the Southside "you're a do gooder," Adam said as though it were a bad thing "and so was she, always volunteering and stuff, and not to mention the most important likeness, you both dated a Baxter."

"Yeah, but having three things in common with the woman doesn't mean that I'm going to have the same life as her, I'm not going to marry George and suddenly he'll turn into a tight fisted, murderous tyrant!" I said as though Adam was crazy; however I was somewhat stunned to find that the look on his face showed that was exactly what he was thinking. "You're mad." I added taking a step away from him.

"I didn't mean it that literally!" Adam exclaimed in an exasperated voice "I only meant that like you George's mum once thought that Baxter was an okay guy, she wouldn't have married him otherwise since by all accounts she was a saint. So who's to say George won't change?"

"So this is you trying to warm me off George because he might hurt me?" I asked in disbelief, even though I still scoffed audibly at the very idea "hate to break it to you Adam, but you can't really say anything about anyone hurting me."

"I'm just trying to get you to see the truth," Adam said with an impassive shrug, as though he couldn't have cared less "George's mum believed that a Baxter could change, that he could be different from the rest of them and look where she ended up."

Shooting a reproachful look I said "you aren't seriously suggesting that George's mum dying in a car accident was somehow a result of her marrying a Baxter?"

"I'm not saying anything of the kind; I just want to know why you think George is different from all the other Baxters?" Adam asked that fierce intensity back in his eyes as he stared at me and waited for my response.

"I've already told you why," I said standing tall and looking down on Adam from halfway across the room "he's a good guy and he cares about people."

"But what about all his responsibilities, all the businesses and property that he'll be left when Baxter dies or moves onto bigger things, what will he do with that? It's surprising what a sudden windfall can do to a person." Adam asked and I eyed him suspiciously, what did he mean if Baxter moved onto bigger things? Did he know something about Baxter's plans?

I didn't say anything about it though, I was only responded to his question with as much conviction in my voice as I could muster "George will sell them, keep what he needs to live and then give the money back to the poor." However when I finished Adam was looking at me in a doubtful sought of way that made me feel like a naive child "he will." I insisted and Adam rolled his eyes.

"You're living in cloud cuckoo land," Adam told me "no one in their right mind would do that, the world is too selfish a place for that to happen and you and I both know it. Everyone looks out for number one."

I bristled "I don't know if you've heard, Adam," I said angrily "but taking from the rich and giving to the poor is sought of what we do."

"Maybe," Adam hedged "but it isn't what a Baxter does, which is what George is after all."

"George is different," I insisted, wondering how many more times I would have to defend George's character tonight "I don't care if you don't believe that he is, I know him better than you do and I say he's nothing like his father and he wont ever be like him!" I said, fast getting to the point of shouted due to all my frustration at Adam, why was he telling me all this and why did he think that he knew what was going to happen any more than I did?

"Well lets ask his mother about that one," Adam muttered before callously adding in a way that made me feel sick "or as we cant how about we ask someone who knows better than anyone else how a Baxter can change, your….." Adam didn't finish his sentence though, at least not at an audible level as he muttered something incomprehensible and then fell silent, seeming to realise that he had said too much.

Something about what he said struck me though and suddenly I had the intense and furious desire to know what he had been about to say, somehow I knew that it was important and that I wasn't going to like whatever he had been about to say. I had to know though, something deep inside me had me desperate to know.

"What did you say?" I asked, slightly shocked to find as much anger in my voice as there was, but unable and unwilling to suppress it.

"You don't want me to finish that sentence." Adam said somewhat threateningly, his brown eyes impossibly cold as he looked at me.

"I do, Adam, tell me what you just said." I commanded, unwilling and unable to let this slide, he had to tell me, I had to hear what he had said.

"You won't like it," he responded looking away from me and sound careless.

Gritting my teeth I replied with "I know."

Adam seemed to deliberate about this for a few moments, once more he was looking at the carpet, his brown eyes hard as stones but troubled, I sensed that he was warring with himself over if he should tell me the truth or not, he looked as though he really wanted to, but something was holding him back. Whatever that was I prayed it wasn't strong enough to keep him from telling me and waited, terrified but expectantly as Adam turned back to me, his decision made.

"I said, that if you want to ask someone about how much a Baxter can change, then you ought to ask your mum."


	16. All the things he said

**Author note: Ashamed, my dear readers, doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. It's been much, much too long since I updated and I don't doubt that you looked at this in your inbox and thought, who, what story? I'm so sorry for the lateness and hope that you're still willing to read this. A massive thank you has to go out to my reviewers, without who I doubt very much this would even be here.**

**Chapter sixteen: all the things he said**

**Hudson Farm**

Adam's words disturbed me more than I cared to admit and haunted me long after I left Deild Vale and Adam behind me. I struggled to sleep that night, unable to stop thinking about what he said and it plagued me, was it really true that I was just like George's mum? Was I foolish and naïve to think that I could keep George's dad from moulding George into the archetypal Baxter? I didn't think so, George was George and he was nothing like his father and nor would he ever be and as for me being like George's mum, well, so what if I was? It wasn't as though I was going to lead the same life as her just because we were a little bit similar and besides, it was my own family that I had gotten all my attributes from, nowhere else, except maybe whatever force acted on me the night I decided to help the poor. Adam was an idiot, a conniving pain in the rear end who was jealous of the happiness I'd found with George and had the audacity to call his attempts to get me to leave George fear for my own well being. He was talking out of his backside about the whole, George-will-be-like-all-the-other-Baxters-as-soon-as-its-too-late-for-you-to-leave crap and I didn't believe a word of it, why should I, Adam hasn't exactly been the most honest man in my life so far has he? No, he was wrong about George, I was sure of it and I had much too much faith in my current boyfriend to believe otherwise. I trusted George with everything I had, I didn't trust Adam as far as I could throw him, George had never internally done anything to hurt me, Adam cheated on my with my friend and has physically harmed me quite a bit since then. All in all, the decision of who I believed in the most wasn't a very tough one.

So why was I still thinking about it? I loved George, he'd never turn into his father because he'd been fighting against just that for such a long time now and not to mention that he's his own person and doesn't have to become an immoral tycoon/MP when he grows up. I didn't doubt that, but still here I was lying in bed, wide awake at about half past six in the morning, after finally dropping off to sleep from sheer exhaustion only to wake up again after my reoccurring nightmare at quarter past five, bang on the dot, my mind buzzing with a thousand thoughts I didn't think I could even entertain. Could the other thing Adam had said be true? As sure as I was that he was wrong about George, I couldn't seem to summon up equal conviction for the other thing he told me. Running my hand through my hair I sat up in bed, furious that I was actually considering Adam's words. I stared out into my darkened room for a few more moments before giving in to the frustration and confusion that poked at me mercilessly and promptly kicking off my bedcovers before springing out of bed, unable to sit still a second longer. Adam was wrong, he'd said what he had about my mum out of pure spite, he had to have done, there was no way that what he said could possibly be the truth. Exhausted from a tiring day which had been followed by yet another long and virtually sleepless night, I was suddenly full of anxious energy and very much on edge. Just about resisting the urge to upturn my room in pure frustration, I let out an agitated noise and headed for my bedroom door, unable to stay in the confining silence a second longer, I needed to distract myself, to push aside Adam's vicious lies and get busy.

Stepping into the corridor, dressed in the shorts and T shirt I wore to bed, I looked across the landing for a moment, making sure that the coast was clear. The house was silent then, everyone soundly asleep in their beds and only the sounds of the piping creaking and my family's soft snoring audible in the quiet of the night. With a wistful glance at George's bedroom door I decided not to disturb him, there was nothing George could do for me now short of simply holding me, and pleasant though that might be it wouldn't help me make sense of what I'd been told. Also as soon as he saw how agitated I was I knew full well that he'd want to know what was wrong and I couldn't tell him about what Adam had said without revealing that I had been in contact with the scumbag. No, I couldn't talk to George about this, not without revealing that I'd been lying to him, and besides, what Adam had said to me was far too disturbing to discus with George.

Shuddering out of both anger and revulsion I scowled and crossed the landing silently, not wanting to wake up my family since it was still early. Bloody Adam! I ranted internally, who was he to tell me all this stuff like he was any authority on my life and the lives of the Baxter's. Not once had he ever done anything for anyone but himself and he honestly expected me to believe that he was telling me all of that to protect me. The very idea was laughable; he had obviously forgotten that I knew him and didn't believe a word he said. Reaching the stairs I navigated them expertly, striding over the familiar creaking steps and treading as lightly as I could, I did know Adam, I thought pulling a face, and hate him though I did was this really the sought of thing he'd just make up? Was Adam the kind to tell a lie of this magnitude, knowing full well what it implied? Of course he was, I insisted though there was a part of me that thought otherwise, Adam was a pilock of the first order and a world class liar, he could turn around and tell the Pope that the sun wouldn't rise tomorrow without so much as blinking. But still, he hadn't seemed like he was lying to me and I prided myself on being able to tell when he was talking crap. Listen to yourself! I chastised as I reached the foot of the stairs and headed for the farm house kitchen, he's actually got you fooled, of course he was lying, and such a thing could never be true. I could always ask my mum, I thought as I reached the fridge but dismissed the thought instantly, and frowning to myself I pulled open the fridge door a little more violently than the action warranted. I couldn't possibly ask my mum something like this, I thought as I pulled a carton of orange juice from the fridge and went off to get a glass, never mind that the question was ridiculous, it just wasn't the sort of thing you asked your mum. But then how could I be sure that Adam was lying and there wasn't any truth to his claims? I wondered as I poured myself a glass of juice and returned to carton to the fridge, a permanent frown in place and furrowed eyebrows. By trusting my instincts and what had happened in the past, I thought, Adam had always lied to me, why should now be any different? It wasn't that simple though, my instincts were telling me to consider this and feeling beyond confused and a little pissed of, I sank into a chair at the kitchen table.

This is crazy, I thought, but what if it's the truth, what will I do then? Question everything I've ever been told probably, I thought sarcastically; as if Adam had told the truth then I wasn't certain of anything any more. Sighing I set down the glass and ignored it, thinking that I needed something stronger if I was going to think about this. Holding my head in my hands I tried and failed not to think about what Adam had said, his words echoed in my mind and I could do nothing to chase them away. 'if you want to ask someone about how a Baxter can change, then you ought to ask your mum.' I hadn't though, I'd asked Adam to explain and regretted it ever since.

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked irately, glaring at the dark haired boy in front of me who was looking at me as though he had just divulged a state secret, deathly seriousness didn't look right on Adam "what does my mum know about that?"

"You don't want to know," Adam said, repeating his earlier warning, however like earlier I was having none of it and refused to just leave the conversation here, I wanted to know exactly what Adam was saying about my mother, I felt offended that he'd brought her up and ready to insult Adam for it.

"I think I'll be the judge of that," I said as he continued to look at me in the most unnerving way "tell me what you mean, no more crap Adam, the truth, if you even know what that word means."

Looking deeply unimpressed Adam said "no, I don't have to tell you anything, you wont heed the warning to matter what I say." and with that he turned away from me, leaving me feeling like something had just been snatched from my grasp, after the initial disappointment my anger set in and I scowled at the back of his head.

"Adam," I all but growled "you can't say something like that about my mum and expect me to let you drop it, what has my mum got to do with Baxter?"

"I can do whatever the bloody hell I want," Adam said turning back to face me "in case you've forgotten I'm the one in charge here not you, I'm not one of your pathetic little Outlaws, doing whatever you say whenever you say it. I called you here and I'll tell you what I want to."

"Come off it," I snapped at him "we both know you want to tell me this, I could see it in your eyes when you said that about my mum, you just want to toy with me first, you get off on having power over people and that's all this is. You don't care if what you say will hurt me; you just like being the one with all the answers, the one in control." I seethed and Adam looked positively furious, glaring at me in contempt for a moment he looked almost like what I'd said had hurt him for a split second before he spat,

"Your mum used to shaft Baxter," his voice brimming with anger and his eyes burning with the desire to see me upset.

I wasn't upset "Bastard," I hissed lunging for him "how dare you say that about my mum!" I cried as I went to punch Adam, I was so distraught though that I wasn't as aware as I should have been and he managed to grab hold of my arm and stop me "she was always good to you, how dare you say that about her."

"You said you wanted to know," Adam said seizing my other arm as I went to try and free myself, standing in front of Adam with him tightly gripping both of my hands and his furious face inches from my livid one I did the first thing that came into my mind, something that with anyone else I would never have done and wasn't particularly proud of. Quivering with rage I stared him right in the eyes before throwing my head back and spitting in Adam's face, as he cried out in disgust Adam let go of one of my arms to wipe his face, moving quickly I landed my second blow. Still furious I promptly kneed Adam in the groin and as he doubled over in pain the lying sod let go of my other hand, without any hesitation I pushed him backwards, hard, and he landed on his back on the floor.

"I asked you to tell me what you said, not for a vicious lie about my mother!" I exclaimed watching him as he writhed in pain on the floor "that was a new low, scumbag, even for you." furious beyond words that Adam had the pure audacity to even suggest that my mother and Robert Baxter had…urgh, it didn't even bare thinking about, it was the most hurtful and disgusting thing Adam had ever said to me and never in my life had I hated this man so much before, except maybe when he threatened George. How dare he? My mum had always been lovely to him, she always told the rest of us off when we spoke of him hatefully, even though she disliked him for the way he had treated me and what he did, she could abide by us being cruel about him. He didn't deserve her kindness.

I turned to leave, more than ready to do Adam more damage but knowing it would do me no good to attack him, I was better than he was. Hands balled into fists I turned away from him and headed towards the window, sod this, I wasn't spending another half and hour listening to his lies, no way no how.

"Don't you want to hear the rest of the story?" Adam asked his voice filled with anger that paled in comparison to my own, rounding on him I spotted him still sitting on the floor protecting his sensitive areas with his hands, but glaring up at me.

"There is no story," I replied forcefully "only your lies."

Wincing as his pained part was jostled, Adam got to his feet and met my gaze "You know what, Robin, all this is, is further proof that just deluding yourself, that you cant accept what's right in front of you."

"Stop talking, Adam, you're not doing yourself any favours," I seethed as I flexed my fingers to keep from lashing out again "there's nothing to accept, you're lying."

"I'm not," Adam insisted "everything I've said to you tonight is the truth; I swear down on my life that it is, Robin."

"Hang on a minute," I said raising a one moment finger to the sky before returning my harsh gaze back to Adam "let me go and get my camera; no one should miss you being struck down by the hand of God." I said coldly and Adam looked bothered, like what I had said had upset him. That didn't last long though.

"You're mum used to go out with Baxter," Adam told me and I groaned, gritting my teeth I turned away, unable to look at him "like George, Baxter used to spend a lot of time on the Southside when he was younger and that's where he met your mum, he was fifteen and they went out for a year before…"

"You expect me to believe that?" I asked cutting across him in scepticism, didn't he know when to stop "my mum hates Baxter, just like everyone else on the Southside, she'd never had gone out with him, not for anything, his family ruined her family's lives."

"That never stopped you though, did it?" Adam asked and under my confused and irritated stare he added "You still go out with George, even though his father makes your family's lives miserable."

"It's not the same, my mum wouldn't have touched Baxter with a ten foot barge pole, I know it!" I said and when Adam only looked smug I scowled and said "Nothing you say means anything to me, you've always lied to me."

"This is the truth," Adam said and I scoffed "Your mum was Robert Baxter's first girl friend, they went out for a year and then he left her for her best friend, George's mum."

"What?" I asked still scowling but feeling my stomach drop a little with what he had said "no, that's not possible."

"Sound familiar does it?" Adam asked and for a second I thought he was talking about me and him when he said "has your mum ever mentioned losing her first love to her best friend? It's the sought of things mothers and daughters share, isn't it?"

"Oddly enough, no." I said coldly, mentally shaking my head and repeating to myself that Adam was a liar and none of this was true "however what is familiar is the part about a girl being cheated on by her boyfriend with her best friend, that part rings a bell somewhere in my mind, oh, I wonder where." I snapped, being far more callous and harsh than ever before and having no room for feeling sorry about it, why should I, he had just insulted my mum after all.

Adam ignored my jibe and carried on as if I hadn't spoken "you only need to ask her, ask her if she was friends with George's mum, or if she knew her, its not an unreasonable question since both of them grew up on the Southside, if she says that she did then you know I'm telling the truth."

"No I don't," I said folding my arms across my chest and having enough of this "I'm going to ask my mum no such thing because you're a lying scumbag that couldn't tell the truth if his life depended on it. My mum never went out with Baxter, NEVER, even if she was friends with George's mum, which I'm sure that she wasn't since she would have told me by now."

Grinning cunningly Adam said "What if the only reason she hasn't told you is because she'd fallen out with her, what if she was still angry for what her friend did to her."

"My mum's not like that," I said thinking of my sweet tempered mother, who only ever had a bad thing to say about one person, Robert Baxter. My mum wasn't the kind of person to hold such a grudge against her friend, but was it possible that this was the reason for her deep hatred of Baxter? "Besides, if she resented George's mum as much as you're suggesting then George wouldn't be living with us now, she wouldn't want it, she'd hate him for what his mother did."

Adam shrugged, unfazed by the claim that I had thought would stump him "I dunno, maybe she's trying to make it up to her dead friend by looking after her son. I don't know everything, but what I do know is that your mum used to go out with Baxter and it didn't end too happily for her."

"I thought you said I was like George's mum?" I asked him, seeing holes in his story and quickly ripping at them.

"I think you're quite a bit like both," Adam said easily from where he stood by his bed "it doesn't matter really, all that matters is that you know the truth."

I scoffed at that and folded my arms across my chest "yeah, cause that's what you told me. This doesn't make any sense you know, Baxter would never have appealed to my mum, he'll have been a pampered prince and a spoiled brat even at that age," I said not even pausing when I remembered that that was what I thought of George at first "anyway, my dad is the only person that my mum has ever loved." I said with naive conviction.

Adam laughed "you seriously believed that?" he asked and when I only scowled at him added "god, its worse than I thought, you really do live in a fairy tale."

"You think that if you want, you don't know me any more." I said coldly and when Adam looked at me with a sudden intensity that was not only shocking but also alarming, since he didn't look angry or anything which was something that hadn't happened often. I quickly started talking again, not wanting to know why he looked how he did "you haven't told me how you know all this," I said "somehow I don't think that Baxter was having a good old natter with Conner about it and you just happened to overhear. How can you possibly know anything about his past?" I asked, sure once again that I had stumped him.

I hadn't though; as ever Adam had an answer "I didn't need to hear it from him, anyone over the age of thirty that lives in the Southside will know about his relationship with your mum. It was the talk of the town way back when so it wasn't difficult to find out."

"Oh right, so you're basing all your claims on a couple of old gossips. Real reliable! I can't believe this! Seriously, how stupid do you think I am?" I asked, stunned by his answer and fed up of listening to him, despite my words I was taking what he had said to heart and that frightened me, I didn't want to think about it.

"For not believing me: incredibly stupid. It's right in front of you, Robin," Adam said starting towards me and causing me to pull a disgusted expression as he grabbed hold of my shoulders in earnest "even you aren't this dim, you must have seen or heard something, anything that your mum or dad or Baxter had said that proves what I've told you. You must know."

Irritated and furious to find even the faintest traces of doubt in my mind I shrugged out of Adam's grip and said "My mum, never went out with Baxter." In the strongest but calmest voice I had.

Adam sighed "Idiot," he muttered before backing away "if you don't believe me that's your own loss, I've told you the truth and you'll be the one to suffer for you not listening, not me. Your mum DID go out with Baxter, he DID cheat on her with her best friend who he later married, and he HAS taught Peter Perfect to act the same way. Don't come crying to me when Georgie Boy hurts you."

"You're the last person I'd come to, if that ever happened." I snapped harshly, incredibly hurt by what he'd said about my mum and refusing to believe a word he said "George is nothing like his dad and thankfully nothing like you. He'd never hurt me and he'd never lie to me about something like this either, I don't believe a word you've said to me, all you ever do is lie." I told him, holding my head high and glaring at him, not about to let him win.

Looking just as cold and harsh as I felt Adam stared at me for a moment before saying "Whatever, don't believe me, I don't care." He said before turning away from me and heading towards his bedroom door, causing me to wonder if I could leave then "But if you gather up enough courage to ask your mum about this, you'll know that I'm right."

Digging my nails into my hair I took a deep breath, Adam was lying, he had to be, I couldn't even contemplate the idea of my mum and Baxter ever being together, it just seemed wrong to me somehow. Could anyone honestly blame me for feeling that way? A murderous, tyrant who terrorised the people of my town, who'd caused so much pain and misery, who wanted to overthrow our soon to be Prime Minster so he could take his evil nation wide and wanted me dead, used to go out with my mum? Was it any wonder the idea didn't sit well with me? I felt queasy, furious and oddly betrayed, thought not by Adam, this was the sort of thing I expected from him, no, it was my mum I felt betrayed by and that very thought alarmed me. I'd left Adam's house determined that I was right and that this was just another one of his schemes to mess up my life, but over the course of the night his words had crept up on me and I couldn't stop thinking that maybe they were true. Painful though that was to even think. I kept telling myself that all this was was Adam trying to ruin what I had with George by telling me this stuff, but suddenly I found myself doubting even that. It didn't seem right.

The more I tried not to think about it the harder the task became and pretty soon I was even remembering all the instances my mum and Baxter had been in the same room together, trying to decide if there was any evidence there to support Adam's claims. My dreams of them in the hospital, while I was unconscious, and Baxter's visit to our house the other week came to mind. Had they acted differently? I wondered but I couldn't remember each instance clearly enough to say, in the hospital there had been a strange tenseness that I'd put down purely to who Baxter was and what he did to people like my parents, but I remembered that he'd been acting strangely, almost as though it bothered him to be around them and they were especially cold to him. While when Baxter came to the house I was sure that I'd seen him looking at my mum in the weirdest way and maybe that I'd seen her blush and be uncommonly cold. I didn't know for sure, in each instance I'd been too distracted to pay attention to my parents and Baxter, too worried about George for anything else. I groaned and pressed my hands against my face, great, now I was reading deeply into everything that had ever happened; I was looking for it to be true even though I knew it couldn't be. My mum would NEVER have gone out with Baxter, never. She hated him, she loved my dad and George's mum had never been her friend. Adam was a liar.

Time passed me by as I sat there, warring with myself over what Adam had said, half convinced he was right and half sure he couldn't be. I didn't know what to think, even considering that he was right went against the grain and what he was implying sickened me, but even still, there was a part of me that thought he might be telling the truth. Staring holes in the kitchen table, perhaps hoping to find the answers to my burning questions underneath the wood, I struggled through my thoughts and emotions and came up empty. However, I was soon pulled from my musing by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Sitting quickly upright I did my best to look normal as my mum rounded the corner into the kitchen and jumped at the sight of me.

"Robin!" She exclaimed raising a hand to her heart and smiling at me "you scared me half to death," she said as she strode, fully dressed for work, across the kitchen. I watched her intently as she moved; thinking once again about what had been said against her, could it be true? "What are you doing down here so early?" she asked as she flicked the kettle on and went about gathering the things she needed to make tea.

Blinking I sat there for a second before looking up at the clock and reading the time, it was almost half past seven "It's not really early," I said stretching out my back, which ached from having been sat hunched over as long as I had "I've got to be in college for nine." I said and my mum nodded at me, smiling as pleasantly as always.

"Okay, love," she said pouring herself a mug of tea before turning to me and asking "do you want one?"

"I'm fine," I said gesturing to my untouched glass of juice in front of me and folding my arms before resting them on the table. I watched my mum as she nodded again and went about her business, unable to keep myself from looking for confirmation of Adam's claims in how she acted, though I didn't know what I expected to find there, since I'd never noticed anything before. My mum was just as cheerful as ever and began to chatter happily about what she was going to be doing today in her job as a teaching assistant and asking me what lessons I had at college today. Distracted I hardly heard a word of what she said but somehow managed to tell her that I only had one lesson today and that George and I planned to go out for the day afterwards, not even the thought of the much anticipated trip to Marian's Bay able to shake me from my thoughts. It couldn't be true.

Frowning at my minimal response Mum sat down in the chair opposite me and wrapped her fingers around the mug of steaming tea. Frighteningly I found that I couldn't bring myself to meet her gaze across the table. "Robin," my mum said her penetrating eye fixed firmly on me and a look on her face that said she knew there was something wrong "are you alright?" she asked and I nodded, causing my mum to look even more sceptical.

Smiling a crappily forced smile I snatched up my glass and took a drink more for something to do than anything else, Mum still watched me as I struggled to force the liquid down my dry throat, feeling more and more bothered with each passing second. "You seem upset," my mum continued, eyeing me warily and her voice taking over a strictly parental tone so I knew she was worried.

"Do I?" I asked fighting back a hysterical laugh, thinking that upset didn't come close to describing how I felt, I felt betrayed, hurt and confused, even though it was crazy for me to think like that since I didn't know if Adam was telling the truth or not and if we really had entered into an alternate universe and he was, why should I feel betrayed? It happened years ago before my mum and my dad were even together and besides, how different was it from what I was doing with George now?

"Yes," my mum answered, that worried tone still there "is there something you want to talk about? Because if there is you can always talk to me." Not about this I cant, I thought before picking up my glass again, I was pretty sure that this was the last thing you'd want to hear me say, whether it was a lie or the truth. I knew I'd feel the same if it were me, to have my daughter accusing me of something like that or to bring up something that I'd probably been trying to forget, I wouldn't appreciate it. "I know that no teenage girl wants to talk to her mum about everything, but if you ever need me, I'm here to talk."

Riddled with guilt for what I was almost believing of her I returned my gaze to the table before correcting the action and looking at my mum, she could read me like a book and would be more concerned than ever by that "I know," I said before forcing another smile and getting to my feet, downing the last of the juice from the glass I dropped it into the sink and turned back to my mum, going for an air of nonchalance I was sure I missed completely.

"Are you going to be staying out late for work again?" my mum asked, probably still trying to get to the bottom of my distress.

"Yeah, I'll be at the office," I said honestly and in doing so reminded myself that there was much more important things to be worried about than rumours about my mum, like tonight's meeting with the Rebellion, whatever Grace might be up to and stopping Baxter from becoming Prime Minster at all costs. However, even with that in mind and determination filling me I couldn't stop thinking about my mum and Baxter. "We've got something important to do tonight." I said and my mum nodded in understanding.

"Maybe you shouldn't stay out so late tonight," my mum suggested as she eyed me, no doubt taking in the bangs under my eyes "you seem tired, Robin, and I'm sure your friends wont mind if you leave early to get some rest." She said with an edge of parental concern.

"They'd understand," I agreed "but I'll wait until we're finished before coming home, we won't be too late, we're just deciding on something." I said thinking even as I spoke that it didn't matter how early I got back to the farm after the outlaws and I planned out what to do tonight, I'd still be leaving again as soon as everyone was asleep. Besides, even if I did turn in early I doubted it would make any difference, I was as bad as Mark now for sleepless nights.

My mum didn't look satisfied by this and frowned for a moment before saying "you work too hard," in a stern tone "one of these days you'll give yourself a nervous break down if you don't slow things down a bit." again I fought back a bubble of hysterical laughter, thinking she might be more right than she knew, I had certainly bitten off more than I could chew lately.

"Thanks mum," I said jokingly "have I really got all that to look forward to?" however my attempt at lightening the mood and providing myself with a chance to escape failed miserably as my mum looked up at me, every inch deathly serious.

"I mean it, Robin," she said her mood dramatically different than when she first came in "I worry about you."

"There's no need to," I assured her even though I knew there was every need for her to worry, just not for the reason she had in mind "my friends are helping me, I'm not going to suffer a nervous breakdown any time soon." I said, anxious to put her mind to rest but also dying to leave, since I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep from asking her about what Adam said.

"Yes well, friends can only do so much," she said before looking thoughtful and adding, in a different slightly distant tone "and they're not always there for you when you need them."

I frowned at that, regarding my mum with what was almost suspicion I wondered at what she'd said, it wasn't the sort of thing you normally heard from her, it was much more untrusting and cold. I was confused, my mum never had a bad word to say about anyone (bar one) so why would she suggest that my friends wouldn't be there for me? Unless she wasn't talking about my friends any more "what makes you say that?" I asked and my mum snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at me.

"Nothing," she said without hesitation "I just meant that you need to look after yourself as well as relying on your friends. I swear Robin, if they have to force you away from work again because you wont admit that your ill…" she said trailing off, implying a threat but not about to actually give one.

I blinked, momentarily stunned by her sudden mood change, she was now cheerful again, recovering quickly I rolled my eyes at her protectiveness and she laughed before threatening that I wasn't too old to be grounded. "Like I don't know that!" I said thinking about the other month when I'd been grounded for joy ridding with George, which, in my defence, sounded a lot worse than it actually was "I'd better go and get ready for college." I said pointing to the stairs and conscious of how tight a schedule I was on today.

"All right, love," my mum said raising her drink to her lips "just make sure your cousin is up, he's been tired lately and your dad let him sleep in a few hours but he'll need him on the farm soon. Personally I'd take a symbol or something into his room with you, that boy sleeps like a rock." She said fondly of her nephew and I grinned, slightly cheered up by the prospect of pestering Joey but still thinking about what Adam had told me.

"With pleasure," I said before hurrying out of the room and taking to the stairs, my mind whirling as I bounded upwards. What was that all about? I wondered, thinking about my mum's strange behaviour when we were talking about friends, suddenly Adam's words were ringing in my ears, reminding me of what my mum supposed best friend (according to Adam) had done to her, was that what she was talking about, her friend getting with her boyfriend? Ridiculous, I thought as I reached the landing, none of what Adam had said was true, something else had bothered my mum, or else maybe I was imagining her reaction, that seemed likely.

"Morning," a sleepy voice murmured from my right and I turned to see a bedheaded George leaning against the doorframe of his room. My heart swelled at the sight of him and I smiled, all thoughts of Adam and his lies leaving me as George took up my every thought. Suddenly I couldn't wait to get going, after college we had one thing to take care of and then George and I were heading off to Marian's Bay for a few hours, I'd hardly spent any time alone with him recently and seeing him standing there, dressed only in a pair of grey joggers, his hair tousled from sleep and his eyelids heavy as he watched me, made me all the more anxious to go. Adam be damned, I thought as George lent in a kissed me on the cheek, there were much more important things than his spiteful lies, the town, helping the poor, stopping Baxter and whoever else might be in league with him, my friends and George. We'd go to college today, compete our recon mission, spend a blissful few hours at the coast and then go and meet with the Rebellion, I wouldn't let Adam's words bother me, no matter how much I felt like there might be some truth in them.

**Author note: I'm not as proud of this as I could have been, it was never meant to be this long, it was just meant to be a little bit before what will happen in the next chapter. However, as is often the way with my writing, it took on a mind of its own and this happened. I really want to know what you think of it though, please review. :) x**


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